The Discovery of the Past

This study investigates the ways in which mankind, from antiquity to the 19th century, became conscious of the past. From Nabonidus, King of Babylon, to Jefferson, via St Augustine, Petrarch and Newton, the book looks at the various ways in which the past has been used as a means of both understanding and manipulating the present. The work presents archaeological research and discovery through the extensive use of quotations from primary sources.