Heritage has burgeoned over the past quarter of a century from a small te 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 book David Lowenthal explains the rise of this new obsession with the past and examines its power for both good and evil. 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. Reviews '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 From The Publisher: Heritage, while it often constitutes and defines the most positive aspects of culture, is a malleable body of historical text subject to interpretation and easily twisted into myth. When it is appealed to on a national or ethnic level in reactions against racial, religious, or economic oppression, the result is often highly-charged political contention or conflict. The extraordinary theme of this unique book is how the rise of a manifold, crusade-like obsession with tradition and inheritance--both physical and cultural--can lead to either good or evil. In a balanced account of the pros and cons of the rhetoric and spoils of heritage--on the one hand cultural identity and unity, on the other, potential holy war--David Lowenthal discusses the myriad uses and abuses of historical appropriation and offers a rare and accessible account of a concept at once familiar and fraught with complexity. David Lowenthal is Emeritus Professor of Geography at University College London, and the author of the bestselling The Past is a Foreign Country (Cambridge, 1985) |
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