Heritage: Management, Interpretation, Identity [Paperback]

'It is refreshing to find a book by a UK authorcovering heritage interpretation...' 'Howard does much to explore the concept of heritage, its provision, purpose and meaning. The most obvious audience would seem to be undergraduates and Masters students...but Howard also intends to appeal to practitioners in the field.' '...it sets out in an open and accessible way the breadth of the heritage field...it will be a useful addition to the library and will be of interest to people working in a heritage tourism context and for those students planning such a career.' Journal of Heritage Tourism--Janet Dickinson

Throughout the world, heritage is now a major concern. It is a method by which to establish identities and attract visitors. Natural and cultural heritage is protected, conserved, managed and interpreted, by families, by cities, by nation states and at international level. This major movement has resulted in the development of heritage as a field of study, both on its own, and as a notable part of many other disciplines, such as geography, art history, archaeology, ecology and tourism management. This textbook is directed at students approaching heritage as a combined field of study for the first time. The fields of heritage under review range from the nature trail to the cathedral, the family album to the national park. Heritage is seen as a demand led activity, with interested stakeholders being academics, governments, owners, school-children, pilgrims and the media as well as the ubiquitous tourist. The text addresses the practicalities of selecting sites and objects as heritage and the characteristics particular to those selected as contrary to those overlooked.

Peter Howard is a geographer who has come into heritage from the study of landscape. He was editor of Landscape Research and is the founder and editor of the International Journal of Heritage Studies. He has introduced courses in Heritage at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Plymouth in Exeter, with a distinctively European flavour. He published European Heritage Planning and Management, with Gregory Ashworth, in 1999. He is married with three children and lives in a Devon village.