This new text on the subject of conservation in the built environment provides a unique holistic view on the understanding of the practice of conservation connecting it with wider societal and political forces. UK practice is used as a means, along with international examples, for bringing together a real understanding of practice with a social science analysis of the issues. The author introduces ideas about the meanings and values attached to historic environments and how that translates into public policies of conservation.

John Pendlebury is Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University. Before becoming an academic, he worked as a Conservation Officer.

1. Conservation, Culture and Planning 2. Modern Conservation 3. Policies and Plans 4. The 1970s 5. Conservation, Conservatives and Consensus 6. The Commodification of Heritage 7. Conservation and the Community 8. World Heritage 9. Postmodern Conservation 10. Conservation Reformed 11. Conservation and the Challenge of Consensus