Treasures on Earth - Museums, Collections and Paradoxes

Faber and Faber, London, 2002, 114 pages. Spine faded, otherwise good secondhand condition.

At best museums are dynamic entities in which we not only preserve the past and interpret the present, but where we also launch our dreams for the future. However, if they are so important, why are museums in trouble, with most of them seriously short of funds and some actually failing? We want to keep and use as much as we can of our cultural and natural heritage but find ourselves no longer able to afford to save it all, if indeed we ever could. Professor Keith Thompson examines the state of museums and asks some searching questions: Do we really need all those collections? Must everything be saved? Who are museums for? Who will pay? Who will choose?