AN URGENT REPORT FROM THE FRONTLINE OF THE CULTURE WARS

How the past is memorialized can have a dangerous influence on the future. Monumental Lies exposes the truths buried at contested heritage sites and demands that we safeguard the material evidence of history from both malign defenders and over-enthusiastic erasure. Robert Bevan challenges us to rethink our relationship with our contested spaces, from colonial statues and the physical legacy of fascism, to fake post-conflict reconstructions and ethno-nationalist narratives about beauty and tradition. He questions symbolic power and symbolic changes and explains why wording on a plaque is never a substitute for tackling problem monuments through artistic transformations at scale.

A Financial Times Best Book of 2022

"A book that makes you sit up ... powerful" - Country Life

"From statues of slave traders to pictures of medieval town centres offered as evidence of "cultural superiority", architecture and public art are everywhere in a coarsened discourse. Robert Bevan...navigates the territory delicately and brilliantly" - Financial Times, Best Books of 2022

"One of the most compelling progressive voices in the heritage world ... Using his nuanced knowledge of architectural history, he is attempting to unpick some of the myths and straight lies deployed when architecture is weaponised." - Tribune

"Bevan astutely argues that those who manipulate our cultural past are shaping our future, making the case that historic buildings have become battlegrounds for right-wing and nationalist political arguments." - The Art Newspaper, Top Books of 2022

"Knowledgeable and thought-provoking" - Apollo

"Monumental Lies could hardly be better timed ... Bevan's book is the result of many years' research and contemplation, and is thorough, extensive and provocative ... brilliant" - Building Design

"A book on cultural patrimony and historical architecture from Bevan's perspective is necessary ... searching and wide-ranging" - The Art Newspaper

"Blistering ... [a] hugely rewarding book that provides a considered and unexpected commentary on the built environment amid the culture wars" - Times Literary Supplement

"A fascinating and very wide-ranging ... rich in detailed discussions of both the artistic and architectural issues and political contexts of many different problems across the contemporary world." - Counterfire

"Powerful ... a must-read book for everyone interested in the questions of heritage representation, diversity and the city, and the way to move forward after painful and violent pasts." - Urban Studies

"Monumental Lies is a highly absorbing and deserving read, and recommended for anyone with an interest in what the built environment says - or avoids saying - about history." - Urban Design Journal