ABSTRACT
Changes or innovations which threaten `our heritage' arouse great hostility in those who want to preserve the past in its entirity.`The heritage' has become a commodity, a device to sell everything from biscuits to country houses. Fowler skilfully examines the present relationship between the past and the present, analysing the manner in which we mould and interpret the past to fit our current needs. He assesses the influence of our heritage in the last decade of the 20th century, and with a wide range of examples judges the consequences of the increasing pressures of the heritage industry. As well as a diagnosis of where the past is being misused, he provides prescriptions for responsible development, and a thoughtful interpretation of a common past. As well as addressing the needs of the professional involved in the heritage industry he also considers the consumer - all those who visit museums, enjoy a historic site or an art exhibition, or who simply dislike the hijacking of our common heritage by commercial or vested interests.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |24 pages
Past introductions
chapter |6 pages
In the beginning…
chapter |16 pages
Preservation to re-creation
part |54 pages
Pasts with people
chapter |17 pages
Living with the past
chapter |9 pages
Celebrating the past
chapter |9 pages
A day in the life of the past
chapter |17 pages
Days-out in the past
part |70 pages
Past workings
chapter |13 pages
Managing the past
chapter |15 pages
Past practicalities
chapter |13 pages
Using the past
chapter |7 pages
Touring the past
chapter |20 pages
Exploiting the past
part |21 pages
Past projections
chapter |19 pages
Then now, present and future
part |6 pages
Epilogue?