The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History

Heritage includes family history, architecture, antiques, old masters, endangered plants and animals, treasure trove and folklore. Critics accuse the burgeoning "heritage industry" of perverting history for profit. Yet, heritage denotes our inescapable dependence on the past. What we inherit, individually and collectively, is integral to our being. Without memory and tradition we could not function in the present nor plan for the future. But we distill these legacies into icons of identity. This book assembles man's attitudes towards what he imagines to be his past, from anchorites and anoraks, Berlin and Biloxi, conkers and castles, dog breeds and dental fillings, through folklore and fax machines.