The Future of the Past - How the Information Age Threatens to Destroy Our Cultural Heritage

We now have better technology than ever before for studying and preserving the past. But at the same time this very technology threatens to destroy monuments, works of art, and ways of life that have survived thousands of years of hardship and war. This paradox is crucial to our age.THE FUTURE OF THE PAST describes the high-tech struggle to protect the Great Sphinx and the Ganges; efforts to preserve Latin within the Vatican; and the digital glut inside the US National Archives. Written in an absorbing journalistic style, Stille's account is full of colourful portraits of the people involved in these critical projects. Throughout, his incisive focus is not just on the past, but on our ideas about the past, how they are changing - and how they will have to change if our past is to have a future. 'Fascinating' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'A powerful narrative, rich with anecdote, detailed description and lively dialogue. This is a must read for anyone interested in the preservation of our world's decaying territory' PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY'Illuminating and engrossing' NEW YORK OBSERVER