Crumbled shells of mosques in Iraq, the fall of the World Trade Center towers on September 11: when architectural totems such as these are destroyed by conflicts and the ravages of war, more than mere buildings are at stake. The Destruction of Memory now available in this accessible, pocket edition reveals the extent to which a nation weds itself to its landscape. Robert Bevan argues that such destruction not only shatters a nation s culture and morale but is also a deliberate act of eradicating a culture s memory and, ultimately, its existence.
Bevan combs through world history...