{"product_id":"soft-a-brief-history-of-sentimentality-by-ferdinand-mount","title":"Soft: A Brief History of Sentimentality by Ferdinand Mount","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDATE OF RELEASE: 24 SEPT 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'[An] erudite, immensely entertaining book...Mount makes for a delightful guide' -- Literary ReviewFrom troubadours to Twitter: a thousand years of feelings, fads and furious sentiment, from renowned essayist Ferdinand Mount. Whatever we think we feel, you can be sure that the past has had a part to play in it. In Soft, Ferdinand Mount tells the millennium-long history of emotion through delightful snapshots, often mischievous storytelling and a masterly command of history.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMount explores the shifting importance societies have placed on empathy for the misfortunes of others. Each seismic moment, Mount argues, from the French Revolution to Civil Rights, has had a corresponding sentimental revolution that has fuelled great political turning points and come to define human civilization. But no one wants to be accused of being sentimental; its detractors call it soppy, effeminate and populist – the stuff of soap operas and pop songs.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Reformation tried to stamp out excessive emotion, the Victorians resolutely maintained their stiff upper lips and no one loathed sentimentality more than the modernists – and yet, today, Mount argues it is not the stoics who are ruling the roost: we are living in an age of emotion. From the Occitan poets of the 12th century to Paul McCartney' songs, and modern debates around woke, this is a witty insight into the story of emotions and the way they have swayed human history.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePaperback | Extent: 320 pages\u003cbr\u003ePublication: 24 Sept 2026, Bloomsbury | ISBN: 9781399421874\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David's Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57176000856446,"sku":null,"price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/0892\/5225\/files\/9781399421874.jpg?v=1774602976","url":"https:\/\/www.davids-bookshops.co.uk\/products\/soft-a-brief-history-of-sentimentality-by-ferdinand-mount","provider":"David's Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}