Going to the Palais: A Social And Cultural History of Dancing and Dance Halls in Britain, 1918-1960 - Hardcover

In its range of topics, density of assembled evidence and consistent, subtlety of argument, this book is set to become the definitive account of dance halls in 20th century Britain. (Jeffrey Richards, History Today)

Nott puts the well-worn concept of gender, class and age through their paces. He shows that austerity and economic insecurity boosted the desire to dance while affluence gradually slowed it down Nott has important things to say about a period in British history where dancing became much more than a craze. (Joanna Bourke, The Times Literary Supplement)

Meticulously researched. (David Fowler, Times Higher Education)

a superb analysis of gender and race relations, as well as a fascinating look at an industry that had once rivalled cinema as an ultimate pastime. (Tal Zalmanovich, New Books Network)

Nott has produced what I think will prove to be a definitive account of dancing and dance halls in the twentieth century. Going to the Palais, is a very impressive work which offers an academic consideration of the halls from multiple perspectives, including corporate ownership and patronage with particular reference to race, class and gender, and the moral concerns their patrons provoked ... Going to the Palais was one of the most notable works of social history to appear in 2015. It was a pleasure to read. (John Griffiths, Social History)

utilizes a rich gathering of material to paint a detailed picture of dancing across the period from 1918 to 1960. Nott's book invites a readership beyond the field of leisure history, making a valuable contribution to histories of gender and class in the twentieth century and raising significant questions about leisure as a vehicle for social and cultural change. (Sian Edwards, 20th Century British History)

Nott's work is impressively researched and refreshingly inclusive of the whole national context ... the book offers a detailed picture painted on a broad canvas and will appeal to both the scholar and the general reader. It makes an important contribution by firmly and unapologetically claiming popular dance as a vital activity in twentieth century cultural history. (Alexandra Carter, Dance Research)

a particularly welcome contribution to modern British studies and one that will undoubtedly be widely read beyond the field of history ... a pleasure to read. (Claire Langhamer, Reviews in History)

This is a major work ... The research, drawing on periodicals, Mass Observation and specially conducted interviews, is impeccable. More importantly, the analysis is persuasive, identifying the dance hall as a crucial space in modern popular culture. From this book, it becomes clear that class was not only the only fault line in British society. The nation was divided into those who could dance and those who couldn't. (Rohan McWilliam, Cultural and Social History)

a landmark study ... Going to the Palais stands as an exemplary work of social and cultural history, an extensively informed and illuminating recovery of a widely embraced but under-studied leisure pursuit that reveals much of popular values and practice and cultural politics at large. (Peter Bailey, American Historical Review)

From the mid-1920s, the dance hall occupied a pivotal place in the culture of working- and lower-middle-class communities in Britain - a place rivalled only by the cinema and eventually to eclipse even that institution in popularity. Going to the Palais examines the history of this vital social and cultural institution, exploring the dances, dancers, and dance venues that were at the heart of one of twentieth-century Britain's most significant leisure activities.

Going to the Palais has several key focuses. First, it explores the expansion of the dance hall industry and the development of a 'mass audience' for dancing between 1918 and 1960. Second, the impact of these changes on individuals and communities is examined, with a particular concentration on working and lower-middle-class communities, and on young men and women. Third, the cultural impact of dancing and dance halls is explored. A key aspect of this debate is an examination of how Britain's dance culture held up against various standardizing processes (commercialization, Americanization, etc.) over the period, and whether we can see the emergence of a 'national' dance culture. Finally, the volume offers an assessment of wider reactions to dance halls and dancing in the period. Going to the Palais is concerned with the complex relationship between discourses of class, culture, gender, and national identity and how they overlap - how cultural change, itself a response to broader political, social, and economic developments, was helping to change notions of class, gender, and national identity.