The Future of the Past

Reviews / Votes

"Thijs Weststeijn's The Future of the Past isn't quite canned soup splattered on Van Gogh's Sunflowers, but its message is every bit as urgent: cultural heritage is under threat from climate change. With a sure grasp of climate science and the policy landscape, Weststeijn takes us on a thoughtful tour of the cultural sites - and the preservation theories - that climate change is putting to the test in the Netherlands and around the globe. He shows that we do, in fact, have tools to protect cultural heritage at our disposal: age-old non-Western practices, new digital technologies, and refined reconstruction techniques. If the facts of climate science alone fail to motivate adequate climate action, perhaps the prospect of losing our shared cultural heritage will."
Simon Richter, Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Germanic Studies, University of Pennsylvania

"Weststeijn's volume is an eye-opening account of how the climate is putting historical heritage at risk on a global scale. As institutions are tasked with adapting to a rapidly changing world, we will need to take necessary measures to protect our collections. For curators and all supporters of culture, this book lays the essential foundations on how to approach preserving the past."
Lizzie Marx, Curator of Dutch and Flemish Art, National Gallery of Ireland

"This book is so well written it is hard to put down. Thijs Weststeijn shows us that, the way things are going, climate change is not only going to wipe out species and make wide areas of the globe uninhabitable, it is also going to destroy many of the most beautiful products of the world's cultures. He offers no false hopes but constructive suggestions, and a mass of fascinating detail which allows us to gauge the scale of the problems we need to address."
Paul Taylor, Professor of the History of the Classical Tradition, University of London

"Heritage experts have spent years documenting the threats posed by mass tourism, war and commerce, but Weststeijn says they have been late to chart the damage wrought by a warming climate."
Pilita Clark, Financial Times