Treasury of World Culture: Monumental Sites, UNESCO World Heritage

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This second of the three-volume UNESCO World Heritage series examines "monument structures" sites that can be seen as an essence of their cultures. The UNESCO World Heritage program selected 47 monuments based on historical importance and stylistic variations employed for the exercise of political power, social prestige, luxury, religious worship, and collective memory. The panorama includes the Taj Mahal of Agra, the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Temple of Borobudur, the Alhambra, the Kremlin, the Pueblo of Taos, and one of the most recognized monuments to a historical moment-the Statue of Liberty. Taken together, these sites are a timeline of civilization that range from the pyramids at Giza to the modernist buildings designed by Victor Horta in Brussels.

Travelers will revel in the possibilities; historians and students will turn to the rich text describing the heritage of every nation and every individual.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

This lavishly illustrated work is the second of three volumes in the "UNESCO World Heritage" series, which draws from some 700 sites on the World Heritage List to present works thematically. This volume includes 47 monuments selected with "the objective of documenting the variations in style and methods of construction employed by different cultures as they assembled forms and symbols tied to the sites chosen for these exercises in political power, social prestige, luxury, religious worship, and collective memory." As in Volume 1, Archaeological Cities and World Centers, the chosen sites range widely in time and space and are grouped according to location-Europe, Asia, Africa, and both North and South America. Each site is represented by a detailed essay on its history and stylistic development, with sidebars focusing on various features and richly illustrated with magnificent color photographs. The coverage of monumental sites is breathtaking, including palaces, monasteries, churches, temples, the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Statue of Liberty, and the temples of Abu Simbel, saved from the waters of the Aswan Dam by UNESCO's international effort. A book to be savored; for all libraries.-Joan W. Gartland, Detroit P.L. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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