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Heritage

A History of How We Conserve Our Past
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( 25 ratings, 2 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Heritage by James Stourton explores the evolving concept of heritage, tracing its Victorian origins to contemporary understandings. The book examines the conservation of Britain's cultural and natural environment, from national parks and historic buildings like Blenheim Palace and Tattershall Castle to the artworks they contain. It highlights key conservation periods in the 1880s and 1960s, analysing ongoing challenges such as development and complacency. The narrative balances stories of crisis with themes of hope and regeneration.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This volume suits readers interested in cultural history, conservation efforts, British heritage, and environmental preservation. It appeals to those engaged with education, history, architecture, and public policy, as well as volunteers and members of heritage organisations.

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A comprehensive, illustrated history of the British heritage industry, from art historian and former Sotheby's Chairman James Stourton.

A comprehensive, illustrated history of the British heritage industry, from art historian and former Sotheby's Chairman James Stourton.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

What is heritage? When was it invented? What is its place in the world today? What is its place tomorrow?

Heritage is all around us: millions belong to its organisations, tens of thousands volunteer for it, and politicians pay lip service to it. When the Victorians began to employ the term in something approaching the modern sense, they applied it to cathedrals, castles, villages and certain landscapes. Since then a multiplicity of heritage labels have arisen, cultural and commercial, tangible and intangible – for just as every era has its notion of heritage, so does every social group, and every generation.

In Heritage, James Stourton focuses on elements of our cultural and natural environment that have been deliberately preserved: the British countryside and national parks, buildings such as Blenheim Palace and Tattershall Castle, and the works of art inside them. He charts two heroic periods of conservation – the 1880s and the 1960s – and considers whether threats of wealth, rampant development and complacency are similar in the present day. Heritage is both a story of crisis and profound change in public perception, and one of hope and regeneration.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critically acclaimed as a fascinating, erudite, and engaging work, the book is praised for being compelling and thought-provoking, offering both historical insight and optimism for heritage preservation. Reviews commend Stourton’s masterful and dynamic survey of Britain's conservation battles, noting its readability and detailed research. It is recognised for covering both architectural and wider cultural aspects, enriched with vivid historical and social context.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781838933166

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 10 November 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Apollo

Illustration: 100 integrated col

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 496

About the Author

James Stourton is a British art historian, a former Chairman of Sotheby's UK and the author of Great Houses of London, British Embassies, and the authorized biography of Kenneth Clark. Stourton frequently lectures to Cambridge University History of Art Faculty, Sotheby's Institute of Education and The Art Fund, and is a senior fellow of the Institute of Historical Research. He also sits on the Heritage Memorial Fund, a government panel which meets to decide what constitutes heritage and should be saved for the nation.

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