Nostalgia A History of a Dangerous Emotion

'A fascinating and rigorous debunking of everything I thought I knew about nostalgia' - Pandora Sykes 'Arnold-Forster is a shrewd critic and delightful guide . . . She carries weighty learning lightly - embracing everything relevant, from dubious neuroscience to cod sociology.' - The Telegraph In Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, Agnes Arnold-Forster blends neuroscience and psychology with the history of medicine and emotions to explore the evolution of nostalgia from its first identification in seventeenth-century Switzerland (when it was held to be an illness that could, quite literally, kill you) to the present day (when it is co-opted by advertising agencies and politicians alike to sell us goods and policies). Nostalgia is a social and political emotion, vulnerable to misuse, and one that reflects the anxieties of the age. It is one of the many ways we communicate a desire for the past, dissatisfaction with the present and our visions for the future.