What an absolutely fascinating book! Author Nancy Moses is a cultural heritage scholar and Chair of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the government agency that supports and oversees museums, historic sites, historic preservation, and archives. Her credentials are why I picked up this book, since I've long been fascinated by cultural heritage and preservation. But I got much, much more than I bargained for.

Ms. Moses takes a broad view of culture and heritage. This book contains chapters about attempts to save art and artifacts looted or damaged in war, a neolithic Scottish village, the peregrine falcon, indigenous art and language, American cowboy songs, and more. Although these seem like unrelated subjects, Moses helps us to understand with her enthusiasm, down-to-earth writing and hands-on research that we're talking about real people, places and things - not dusty artifacts in the back corner of some museum. Preserving them enriches us, teaches us about places, times and events that have relevance to our lives, and introduces to us reasons why cultural heritage is often lost and deserves to be saved. Sadly, it is a fact that we as people have often destroyed the heritage of those who have come before us. Many times this is deliberate, as in an invading power trying to destroy the culture and identity of those they hope to conquer. Other times, the loss is due to unexpected consequences, as in the case of the pesticide DDT proving toxic to birds and other animals and not just the insects that we hoped to control. And often, it is just due to neglect and our mistaken notion that cowboy songs or indigenous languages are not relevant to our life today.

I had previously done some reading on some of the subjects in this book, and I included the idea of cultural preservation in my classes when I was a college professor of the arts. I strongly believe that this is a field that needs to be more widely recognized, along with the knowledge that what is past is also important to our present and our future. Perhaps by knowing more, we can prevent destruction of treasures by people for whom money and "progress" is more important than history; the deliberate destruction of cultural identity by conquering powers; and the simple neglect or even scorn for cultural heritage that is considered more primitive or less desirable than our own.

Many thanks to Rowman and Littlefield Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this outstanding book.