The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History
The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History
£30.99
GBPHeritage has burgeoned over the past quarter of a century from a small élite preoccupation into a major popular crusade. Everything from Disneyland to the Holocaust Museum, from the Balkan wars to the Northern Irish troubles, from Elvis memorabilia to the Elgin Marbles bears the marks of the cult of heritage. In this acclaimed 1998 book David Lowenthal explains the rise of this obsession with the past and examines its power for both good and evil.
- A brilliant, wide-ranging and entertaining general study of the 'heritage industry'
- Written by David Lowenthal, the very successful and acclaimed author of the well-known book The Past is a Foreign Country (1985)
- First published by Penguin Group (in their Viking imprint, 1997) and now available for the first time in paperback
Reviews & endorsements
'The invention of heritage is a fascinating story, and Lowenthal tells it with vigour, style and a Balzacian relish for detail … His racy style keeps us constantly on the move.' Roger Scruton, The Times
'Timely and provocative … brilliant and stimulating pyrotechnic.' Roy Strong, The Sunday Times
'A wealth of stories both true and amusing.' Grey Gowrie, The Daily Telegraph
'Perceptive and provocative … explores the many perversities of the heritage cult - and its absolute irresistibility.' Michael Kerrigan, The Scotsman
'Leads a brilliant dance through this jungle of cultural confusion, from the Holocaust Museum to Elvis Presley's shrine in Graceland.' Candida Lycett Green, The Sunday Express
'Brave, piquant and impressively broad-ranging.' Linda Colley, The Times Literary Supplement
Product details
May 1998Paperback
9780521635622
358 pages
228 × 152 × 23 mm
0.6kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Heritage ascendant
- 2. Personal legacies
- 3. Collective legacies
- 4. Heritage assailed
- 5. The purpose and practice of history
- 6. The purpose of heritage
- 7. The practice of heritage
- 8. Being first
- 9. Being innate
- 10. Rivalry and restitution.
