Book reviews

Zwartjes, Otto, ed. La Sociedad andalusí y sus tradiciones literarias (Foro Hispánico, 7). Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1994.

Brincat, Joseph M. Malta 870–1054: Al‐Himyai's Account and its Linguistic Implications. Malta: Said International Ltd., 1995. 52pp.

Sells, Michael A. Mystical Languages of Unsaying. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. 316 pp., US$18.95 (paperback), US$49.91 (cloth).

Diem, Werner, Arabische Geschäftsbriefe des 10. bis 14. Jahrhunderts aus der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien (Documents Arabica Antiqua 1), 2 vols. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1995. Textband ix+518pp., Tafelband 76 plates.

Coope, Jessica A. The Martyrs of Cordoba: Community and Family Conflict in an Age of Mass Conversion. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. xvii+113 pp., US$ 25 (cloth).

Edwards, John. Religion and Society in Spain, c.1492 (Variorum Collected Studies Series: CS 520). Aldershot and Brookfield: Variorum, 1996. x+351 pp., US$ 97.00 (cloth).

Tolan, John Victor, ed. Medìeval Christian Perceptions of Islam. A Book of Essays (Garland Medieval Casebooks, Volume 10). New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1996. xxi+414 pp., US$60.00 (cloth).     

Book reviews

^cAbd al‐Malik b. Habib. Kitāb al‐Ta'rij (La historia). Edición y estudio por Jorge Aguadé. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas & Instituto de Cooperación con el Mundo Arabe, 1991 (Fuentes Arabico‐Hispanas, 1). 163 + 224 pp. [Arabic title: Kltāb al‐Ta'tikh]

Kedar, Benjamin Z., ed. The Horns of Hattin. Jerusalem and London: Yad Izhak Ben‐Zvi, Israel Exploration Society and Variorum 1992. 368 pp., 12 plates; $74.75 (cloth).

Köprülü, Mehmed Fuad. The Seljuks of Anatolia: Their History and Culture According to Local Muslim Sources. Translated and edited by Gary Leiser. Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 1992. xi +101 pp., $22.00 (cloth).

Cameron, Averil and Conrad, Lawrence I., eds. The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East: Problems in the Literary Source Material (Papers in the First Workshop on Late Antiquity and Early Islam). Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1992. xiv + 428pp., 12 plates; $29.25 (cloth).

Vereno, Ingolf. Studien zum ältesten alchemistischen Schrifttum. Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1992 (Islamkundliche Untersuchungen, 155). 414pp.

Tolan, John. Petrus Alfonsi and his Medieval Readers. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 1993. xv + 288pp., $34.95 (cloth), $16.95 (paper).

Lassner, Jacob. Demonizing the Queen of Sheba: Boundaries of Gender and Culture in Postbiblical Judaism and Medieval Islam. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1994. 281 pp., $19.95 (paper), $49.95 (cloth).

Menocal, María Rosa. Shards of Love: Exile and the Origins of the Lyric. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1994. xv + 295pp., $34.95 (cloth), $14.95 (paper).

Massignon, Louis. The Passion of al‐Hallāj, Mystic and Martyr of Islam. Translated and edited by Herbert Mason. Abridged edition, Bollingen Series XCVIII. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994. xxxi + 293pp.

Viguera Molins, Maria Jesús. El Islam en Aragón. Saragossa: Caja de Ahorros de la Inmaculada, 1995 (Colección “Mariano de Pano y Ruata”, 9), 174 pp., 182 ills. in colour, maps, diagrams, charts etc No price stated.     

The changing shape of the book: From cultural evolution to technological revolution

Electronic media would appear to offer the prime forms of communication for the future. Television, the internet, the mobile phone and any number of other innovations present an apparently overwhelming threat to the continuation of the paper‐based media with which most of the adult community is familiar.

The book, in particular, would seem an anachronism. Its production methods, its distribution systems, the physical entity itself, belong not even to the century just finished but to an earlier era altogether. It finds its provenance in a mediaeval technology, its purpose in a society that could accept a pedestrian form of communication, well suited to sharing the printed word with the few who could read it and afford it.

And yet the market for the conventional book remains buoyant. Statistics indicate decline in neither the number of titles published nor sales revenues.

In fact, the new media are indeed impinging on the book market but more slowly than might be imagined. The technologies which have brought us screen‐based devices and telephonic communication have also brought dramatic improvements in the speed and economics of book manufacturing and are beginning to offer highly competitive solutions to both the production and the distribution of conventional books.

This chapter begins with a look ahead to the alternatives shapes of the book of the future. It then accounts for the continuing presence of the conventional book in this scenario by briefly tracing the development of an ancient craft which has evolved through technological innovation into a sophisticated production process which transformed the economics of production.

These technological and economic changes in conventional book manufacturing are set against the advantages and challenges of new media to show how all future forms of the book have a competing place in the market.     

Local authority historie parks in the UK

This chapter is based on the findings of a needs assessment survey of Britain's public parks, undertaken by the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management, on behalf of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and English Heritage. The survey followed an earlier exercise which had highlighted the lack of data about this area of Britain's heritage. The chapter focuses particularly on historic parks and is presented in three sections: the first looking at the aims and methodology of the survey and the rate of response; the second considering the survey findings; and the third presenting its conclusions and recommendations.

The main aim of the survey was to gather data about public parks in order to assist grant‐making by the Heritage Lottery Fund, through its Urban Parks Programme. The returns were used to create a database of local authority owned parks and open spaces, providing details of size, condition, features, facilities, status, conservation designations, visitor numbers and so on. The first section reports on the responses from local authorities, 174 of which had park stock. It notes that a further survey is in process to increase the knowledge base.

The second section provides details on individual parks defined by local authorities as being of historic interest; what conservation status or value they are seen to have; what condition they are in; and what features they possess. It goes on to consider the need for objective standards, covering their various uses and the opportunities they provide, as well as for the more easily quantifiable data of size, features and catchment area. The section also includes consideration of local authority knowledge of parks, aspects of best practice, regional variations in conditions, plus recent trends in parks management, such as the known impact of Compulsory Competitive Tendering and the possible effects of Best Value. Finally, the section covers the financial and training needs for the proper maintenance of parks, and considers the questions of the numbers and kinds of park users and ways of reflecting their concerns and needs.

The third section notes the general decline in the condition of parks over the last two decades, across the whole of the country. Recommendations include immediate, medium‐term and long‐term proposals. In the short term, the authors call for the completion and maintenance of the parks database and the dissemination of its findings. In the medium term, they recommend the development of agreed definitions for parks and their features, with national standards, guidance for Best Value, sharing of best practice, development of national and local parks strategies, improved training and career opportunities, and a standard formula for visitor numbers and usage. In the long term, the authors call for greater government recognition of the role of parks in urban regeneration, a comprehensive investment programme, and the encouragement of new ways of involving users, residents and others in the further development of parks.     

Non-Descender and All-Cap Arabic Writing

Contrary to the common belief of Arabic language users that the Arabic writing system has descenders as an inherent quality, some historical examples demonstrate that there were some artistic attempts to create non-descender, all-cap calligraphic systems, but they have never been studied as a phenomenon. This article draws attention to the existence of these examples, and analyses and classifies them according to their form.

The article begins with an analysis of the current Arabic writing system in terms of descenders, differentiating between artistic and functional writing, defining the need for harmonious balance in artistic writing, and demonstrating that descenders do disrupt the balance in Arabic writing, which could be considered as an ascender-system.

Then, historical examples of the non-descender system are introduced, categorised into four visual stages, and the descender handling for each stage is described; all-capital letter examples are then introduced.

Finally, some historical texts describing the beauty of calligraphy in this specific system of writing are analysed.

Abbreviations: MET: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org; LACMA: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, www.lacma.org; No. : Accession Number     

Beyond ‘dusty archives’: The economic benefits of preserving recorded heritage

Libraries and archives are increasingly under pressure to justify the cost of preserving the recorded heritage. This paper addresses the real need to identify and measure the benefits of preservation of the recorded heritage in the UK.

Stated preference techniques are well established in the field of environmental economics, and they are also appropriate for the valuation of cultural heritage. The authors develop and test a methodology to estimate people's preferences for the preservation of the recorded heritage through two stated preference case (pilot) studies.

All library and archive materials supporting the written and documentary heritage of the chosen case studies have been considered. The benefits of preservation are identified as those associated with the use of the recorded heritage (for example, by schools, commercial organisations, academics and other interested parties), the option of using it in the future, and the value placed on its existence by the general public, even if they have no intention of using it.

The main advantage of estimating the benefits of preservation in monetary terms is that these can be compared with the costs of preservation to determine whether any given project or policy is worthwhile, or indeed to choose among competing projects for the allocation of funds.     

Book reviews

Bazzana, André; Cressier, Patrice; and Guichard, Pierre. Les châteaux ruraux d'al‐Andalus. Histoire et archéologie des husūn du sud‐est de l'Espagne. Preface by Pierre Toubert (Série Archéologie, XI). Madrid: Publications de la Casa de Velázquez, 1988. 326pp; illustrations (plates, maps, tables); bibliography, index.

Tāha, CAbdulwāhid Dhanūn. The Muslim Conquest and Settlement of North Africa and Spain (Exeter Arabic and Islamic Series, 3). London: Routledge, 1989. xiv + 280pp; £49.50.

Leaman, Oliver. Averroes and his Philosophy Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. 204pp.; £25.

Mas^cūdî. The Meadows of Cold: the Abbasids. Ed. & tr. P. Lunde & C. Stone. London: Kegan Paul International, 1989. 469 pp., 2 maps; £30.

Sirat, Colette. La philosophie juive médiévale en terre d'Islam. Paris: Presses du CNRS, 1988. 278 pp.

Epalza, Míkel de and others. Baños Arabes en el país Valenciano. [Valencia], Generalitat Valenciana: Consellería de Cultura, Educado i Ciència, 1989.157 pp., plates, figures., maps (unnumbered).

Waines, David In a Caliph's Kitchen.Medieval Arabic Cooking for the Modern Gourmet. London: Riad el‐Rayyes Books, 1989. 112pp., many illustrations; £14.

Abed, Shukri B. Aristotelian Logic and the Arabic Language in Alfārābi. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991. xxv+201pp., two appendices, bibliography, index.

Meyerson, Mark D. The Muslims of Valencia in the Age of Fernando and Isabel: Between Coexistence and Crusade. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. xi + 372 pp.

Zacour, Norman. Jews and Saracens in the Consilia of Oldradus de Ponte. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1990. x+144pp., index; paperback.     

Book reviews

De Epalza, Míkel. Jésus Otage: Juifs, chrétiens et musulmans en Espagne (VI ^e‐XVII ^e s.(. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1987. 238pp.

Rubiera Mata, María Jesús. Bibliografia de la Literatura Hispano‐Arabe. Alicante: Universidad de Alicante, 1988. 75pp.

Bernabé Pons, Luis F. El cántlco Islámico del morisco hispano‐tunecino Taybili. Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico, 1988. 275pp.

Smith, Colin. Christians and Moors in Spain, 1: 711–1150. War‐minster: Arls and Phillips, 1988. xii+179pp., 2 maps; £19.95 hardback; £8.25 paperback.

López García, Bernabé. Política y movimientos sociales en el Mágreb. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas et Siglo XXI de España, 1988. xlv+207pp.

Esposlto, John L. Islam, The Straight Path. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. x+230pp., index; paperback.

Sharq Al‐Andalus: Estudios Arabes Ed. Mikel de Epalza. Alicante: Universidad de Alicante. 2 (1985) 310pp.; 3 (1986) 296pp.

Powers, David S. Studies In Qur'ān and Hadith: The Formation of the Islamic Law of Inheritance. Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California, 1986. xiii + 263pp.

Abun‐Nasr, Jamil M. A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic period, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.XVI + 455pp., 6 maps; £42.50 hardback; £17.50 paperback.

Thomas, C. G. (editor). Paths from Ancient Greece. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1988. 206pp, HF1.58.     

The funding of professional archaeological practice in England

Professional archaeology in England is funded from a variety of sources. This chapter of Cultural Trends presents research tracing the route by which this has developed, examining and quantifying the sources of funding for professional archaeological practice in 2000. This is the first study to quantify archaeological funding from all sources in the last decade.

Since 1990, governmental planning advice has switched the financial burden of recording archaeological remains from the state to private sources. This has allowed a great expansion of archaeological work to take place, through the requirements of the planning system, and funded from private sources.

While central government funding has remained static (falling in real terms) over the last decade, private ‐ developer ‐ funding has become the norm. It is calculated that approximately £120 million was spent on professional archaeological practice in 2000, with over half of that sum coming from private sources.

This chapter examines and quantifies all the sources of funding for professional archaeology, considering developer funding in detail. Undoubtedly the expansion of developer funding has brought great benefits to professional archaeology, not least in terms of the greater scale of work required, but it has also raised problems, allowing archaeological practice in 2000 to become a weakly regulated, market‐led activity.

Local government, as the regulator of the planning system, has a key role to play. As archaeological services in local government are not maintained on a statutory basis, they are open to budgetary pressures.

The chapter concludes by examining the key issues relating to development and archaeology in the near future, and suggests an alternative approach to funding that might better suit developers, planners and archaeologists alike.     

Book reviews

Mir, Mustansir. Verbal Idioms of the Qur'ān. (Michigan Series on the Middle East, no. I). Ann Arbon University of Michigan, 1989. xxi+378 pp., glossary; US$ 21.95 (paperback).

Fiotini, Stanley and Mallia‐Milanes, Victor, eds. Malta. A Case Study in International Cross‐Currents. Proceedings of the First International Colloquium on the History of the Central Mediterranean held at the University of Malta, 13–17 December 1989. Msida: Malta University Publications, 1991. xxii+300pp. 17 plates, 8 text figures. M£5.

Bellamy, James A. ed. Studies in Near Eastern Culture and History in Memory of Ernest T. Abdel‐Massih. (Michigan Series on the Middle East, no. 2). Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan, 1990. x+225pp.

Dajani‐Shakeel, Hadia and Messier, Ronald A. eds. The Jihād and its Times, dedicated to Andrew Stefan Ehrenkreutz. Ann Arbor: Center for Near Eastern and North African Studies, The University of Michigan, 1991. iii+135pp.

Minorités religieuses dans l'Espagne médiévale. (Nos. 63–64 of Revue du Monde Musulman et de la Méditerranée). Aix‐en‐Provence: Édisud, 1992. FF 160.

Burckhardt, Titus. Fez, City of Islam. Translated by William Stoddart. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1992. 175pp. 58pl.

Jayyusi, Salma Kh., ed. The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Leiden: Brill, 1992. (Handbuch der Orientalistik, Erste Abteilung, The Near and Middle East, zwolfter Band), xix+1098 pp. 6 maps; 27 pages of colour and black and white illustrations. Hfl. 450.

Stetkevych, Jaroslav. The Zephyrs of Najd: The Poetics of Nostalgia in the Classical Arabic Nasib. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. xii+326pp.

Corbin, Henry. History of Islamic Philosophy. London: Kegan Paul International/Islamic Publications for The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 1993. xvii+445pp. £55.

Burrell, David B., C.S.C. Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993. xi, 225 pp. Cloth $29.95; paper $13.95.

Köprülü, Mehmed Fuad. Islam in Anatolia after the Turkish Invasion. Translated and edited by Gary Leiser. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1993. xviii, 141pp.

Stetkevych, Suzanne Pinckney. The Mute Immortals Speak: Pre‐Islamic Poetry and the Poetics of Ritual (Myth and Poetics. Gen. ed. Gregory Nagy). Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1993. xvi, 334pp.; appendix of Arabic texts.

L'Expulsió dels Moriscos. Conseqüències en el món islàmic i el món cristià. Sant Caries de la Ràpita 5–9 de desembre de 1990. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Cultura, 1994. 418pp.

Agius, Dionisius A. and Hitchcock, Richard, eds. The Arab Influence in Medieval Europe (Folia Scholastica Mediterranean Reading: Ithaca Press, 1994. 167pp. £30.

Davidson, Olga M. Poet and Hero in the Persian Book of Kings (Myth and Poetics. Gen. ed. Gregory Nagy). Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1994. xi, 197pp.     

Book reviews

Galmés de Fuentes, Aivara. Toponimia de Alicante (La oronimia). Alicante: Universidad de Alicante, 1990.91 pp., index of names; paperback.

Arié, Rachel. L'Occident musulman au Bas Moyen Age. Paris: De Boccard, 1992.131 pp.

Lev, Yaacov. State and Society in Fatimid Egypt (Arab History and Civilization: Studies and Texts, 1) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1991. x+217 pp. Hfl. 110.‐

Melville, Charles and Ubaydli, Ahmad, eds. Christians and Moors in Spain, vol. III: Arabic Sources (711–1501). Warminsten Aris & Phillips, 1992. xviii+202 pp. £35 (cloth), £11.95 (paperback).

López Baralt, Luce. Islam in Spanish Literature from the Middle Ages to the Present. Leiden and San Juan: E.J. Brill and Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1992.323pp. Hfl. 145.‐

Baer, Eva. Ayyubid metalwork with Christian images. (Studies in Islamic Art and Architecture / Supplements to Muqarnas, 4). Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989.55pp. 128 ills. (b/w). Hfl. 65.‐

Stroumsa, Sarah. Dāwūd Ibn Al‐Maqammis's Twenty Chapters (^cIshrūn Maqāla) (Études sur le Judaïsme Médiéval, XIII). Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989. 320pp. Hfl. 135.‐

Cassoia, Arnold (Ed). The Biblioteca Vallicelliana Regole per la Lingua Maltese. Malta: Said International, 1992. xlviii+193 pp.     

Book reviews

Varela Gomes, Rosa. Cerâmicas Muçulmanas do Castelo de Silves. Silves: Museu Municipal de Arqueologia, 1988 (XELB, 1). 294pp, numerous figs, and pls.

Rubiera i Mata, María Jesús.Introducció a la literatura hispaho‐àrab (Col. ecció Xarc AI‐Andalus, l).Alicante: Universitat d'Alacant, 1989. 117pp.

Guichard, Pierre. L'Espagne et la Sicile musulmanes aux XI^e et XII^e siècles. Lyon: Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 1990. 232pp., figures, maps. FF. 138.‐ ‘ .

Lozano Cámara, Indalecio. Tres tratados árabes sobre el Cannabis Indica. Madrid: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional, Instituto de Cooperación con el Mundo Arabe, 1990. 220pp.

Powell, James M., ed. Muslims under Latin Rule, 1100–1300. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. 221pp.

Actas del Simposio Internacional sobre la Ciuidad Islámica. Ponencias y Comunicaciones. Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico de la Diputación Provincial, 1991. 474pp.

Neugebauer, Otto. Abu Shaker's “Chronography”: A treatise of the 13th Century on Chronological, Calendrical and Astronomical Matters, written by a Christian Arab, preserved in Ethiopie (Õsterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Philos.‐Histor. Klasse: Sitzungsberichte, 498).Wien: Ö.A.W., 1988. 198pp., 7pl. OS 350.‐.

Arbel, Benjamin, Hamilton, Bernard and Jacoby, David, eds. Latins and Creeks in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204. London: Frank Cass, 1989. 245pp. £18.     

Book reviews

Takeshita, Masataka. Ibn ^cArabi's Theory of the Perfect Man and Its Place in the History of Islamic Thought. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 1987 (Studia Culturae Islamicae, 32). iii + 182 pp.

Pryor, John. H. Geography, Technology and War : Studies in the Maritime History of the Mediterranean, 649–1571. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. xvii +238pp.;£ 22.50 / US$ 39.50.

Baali, Fuad. Society, State and Urbanism : Ibn Khaldun's Sociological Thought. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988. 175 pp.; paper US$ 12.95, cloth US$ 34.50

Wilkinson, John (editor) with Hill, Joyce and Ryan, W.F., Jerusalem Pilgrimage 1099–1185. London: The Hakluyt Society,1988. xi + 372pp., 24 maps and plans; £ 16.00.

Heine, Peter. Kulinarische Studien: Vntersuchungen zur Kochkunst im arabisch‐islamischen Mittelalter. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz,1988. 137pp.; DM 68.     

Book reviews

Rotter, Ekkehart, Abendland und Saratenen: das okxidentale Araberbild und seine Entetehung im Frühmittelalter. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1986. (Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur des Islamischen Orients, neue Folge, Band 11) 290+xiipp. 2 genealogical charts; Sketch map; sketch; DM 158.

Irwin, Robert. The Middle East in the Middle Ages: The Early Mamlük Sultanate 1250–1382. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986. 180 pp.: US $26.95.

Kobbervig, Karl I. El Libro de las Suertes: tratado de adivinación por el Juego de azar. Estudio, edición y glosario. Madrid: Gredos, 1987 (Colección de Literatura Española Aljamiado‐Morisca, 7), 227pp., including a full‐page facsimiles from the MSS.

Cutler, Allan Harris and Cutler, Helen Elmquist. The Jaw as Ally of the Muslim: Medieval Roots of Anti‐Semitism. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986, x + 577 pp., Indices; bibliography; US $50.00

Parker, S. Thomas. Romans and Saracens: A History of the Arabian Frontier. (American Schools of Oriental Research 1986. Dissertation Series, 6) Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns,1987. xiii + 247pp.: US $25.00.

De Montêquin, François‐Auguste (compilar). Muslim Architecture of the Ibrian Peninsula: Eastern and Wastern Sources for Hispano‐Islamic Building Arts. West Cornwall. Locust Hill Press, 1987, xv + 241 pp.; US $30.00.     

Towards a renaissance in urban parks

Public parks have been a familiar and popular feature of our towns and cities since their appearance throughout the 19th century. They arose out of social concern over public health and happiness and as a reaction to the squalid conditions endured by the masses. Civic pride determined that they were maintained to a very high standard as symbols of municipal power and excellence. Public parks were the first resort for local communities, especially children, to have fun and to relieve the pressures of modern life. As well as providing an urban pastoral they also provided for the exuberance of amatuer sport and lively play. They continued and strengthened the British fascination with horticultural magnificence ‐council apprenticeships provided the head gardeners for the National Trust and private estates as well as the men who competed with their peers in ever more imaginative and technically accomplished picture‐and carpet‐bedding displays which adorned the nation's premier public parks.

All this has sadly passed. The decline of parks can be traced back to the removal of railings for the War effort and consequent loss of sense of place, but the real damage became cumulative from the mid‐1970s. Local government reorganisation, political struggle between local and central government, privatisation of local services, year‐on‐year cuts in capital and revenue budgets and a shift of emphasis to foreign holidays and car‐borne countryside recreation all contributed to the downfall of urban parks into the dismal, neglected and vandalised landscapes which have become so familiar today. Responding to the concerns of voluntary and professional bodies, the Heritage Lottery Fund launched the Urban Parks Programme in 1996 to begin to address the issues. The Urban Parks Programme experience has highlighted how seriously underfunded parks have been and has committed far more money than intended to tackle the massive backlog of repairs to essential park infrastructure. It has also tried to address the causes of decline in partnership with local authorities and other bodies in the field ‐ loss of management structure and skills, lack of political support and understanding, and dearth of relevant data concerning parks.

This article traces the fortunes of public parks from their inception to their decline and documents the stirring of a potential renaissance as the government shows its concern with quality of life issues, with social exclusion, with multiple deprivation and with regeneration of the economic vitality and social coherence of urban areas. A government Select Committee has recently examined the state of the nation's parks and declared itself shocked and appalled at the extent of the problems that parks have faced in the last 30 years. There is now a chance that the long downward trend in the status and condition of urban parks can be reversed if a vigorous lead is given by government.     

The arts in England: Developing a survey of attendance,participation and attitudes

Reliable data on attendance, participation and attitudes to the arts are needed by planners, policy makers, arts organisations, those concerned with marketing the arts and researchers.

This chapter describes the development and piloting of a national survey of people's engagement with the arts by the Arts Council of England and the Office for National Statistics. It outlines the main reasons for the development of the survey, presents results from the pilot and compares them with other national and international sources of data.

From the outset, procedures for obtaining feedback on the pilot questionnaire were built into the planning process. The paper discusses respondents’ reactions to the questionnaire, their views on how meaningful the questions were and how well the interview worked. It also explores respondents’ understanding of such terms as ‘the arts’ and ‘public funding’, and how they responded to questions.

The chapter concludes with a summary of the changes made in the light of the pilot and outlines future plans for the survey.     

The value of music in London

London is one of the world's foremost music cities. Using a statistical approach developed in earlier studies of music in the United Kingdom (NMC, 1996; NMC, 1999), this chapter presents the results of a survey commissioned by London Arts from researchers at the University of Westminster. The chapter draws together available data oh the commercial and public sectors of the industry, on live performances and their audiences, on education and training and on exports. This data has been supplemented by new research, notably in the area of live performance and in identifying geographical ‘clusters’ of music business firms in certain areas of inner London.

Among the key findings of the research are that consumer spending represents some 90 per cent of the £1.1 billion total spending on music in London; consumers spent more on concert tickets and entrance charges for music of all types than on CDs and other soundcarriers; music provides the equivalent of 34,000 full‐time jobs in London and creates added value of over £1 billion and the London music business has net foreign earnings of over £400 million per annum.

The chapter concludes with some reflections on the implications of this research for music policy at both the national and city level. The statistical evidence demonstrates that classical music, a genre with only 10 per cent of the audience, continues to attract over 90 per cent of public subsidy. A similar imbalance in training of education of musicians means that the development of many young and talented non‐classical musicians is left to the vagaries of the market.     

‘They shall grow not old’: An analysis of trends in memorialisation based on information held by the UK national inventory of war memorials

This chapter of Cultural Trends discusses ways in which war memorials demonstrate changing cultural or societal trends in the UK through their various forms and functions, and through the evolution of memorialisation itself.

It introduces the UK National Inventory of War Memorials, an archive which was established in 1989 and which records details of memorials throughout the UK. The chapter is based on data and detailed examples taken from the 47,000 records currently input on the archive's database and it explores those records to examine memorials commemorating the Boer Wars, First and Second World Wars and the Korean War, in particular.

The first section considers general issues regarding war memorials in the UK ‐ the ways in which memorial styles have changed, and how these reflect changing attitudes towards those who served in the armed forces in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

The second section is about the pragmatics of memorialisation, and focuses on the significance of where memorials are positioned, whether inside or out and within public or private spaces; the increase in secularisation; the geographical spread of memorials; and issues related to urban and rural memorialisation.

The third section considers the evolution of memorials from being a focus for grief for those whose friends and relations’ bodies were not returned, to manifesting veterans groups’ assertions of their identity many years after a conflict. The physical movement of memorials is also covered, ranging from memorials which have been lost or neglected, through to memorials being moved in order to preserve them so that remembrance services can continue. Peaks and troughs of memorialisation through the 20th century are also considered.

To conclude, the fourth section pulls together various threads drawn throughout the chapter, analysing memorials chronologically, geographically, stylistically and in terms of their relative ‘popularity’.     

UK museums: Safe and sound?

The new millennium finds UK museums confronting change in their markets and a new political environment.

Recent research has shown that the museum market is static. Sustainability may be difficult for many, with only those that are small and run by volunteers escaping financial difficulties. Alongside these market factors, and following the election of the Labour government, museums are being expected to confront new challenges. While much government policy continues the thrust of the previous administration ‐ especially the focus on the national museums and galleries ‐ there have been some distinctive shifts, especially in respect of admission charges. Besides devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, an increasingly important English regional agenda has developed, in which museums are expected to play a significant role.

Other influences have also had a considerable impact, such as the advent of Best Value, which requires museums funded by local councils to demonstrate their efficiency and effectiveness, and the National Lottery's significant investment in museum capital projects. While this has created some exciting new projects, it has also added to museums’ running costs at a time when market conditions are difficult. Additionally, limited opportunities for employees to progress and develop, and uncompetitive pay, make museums an unattractive career choice, thereby depriving them of the talent that will be needed to meet the public's changing needs.

All these issues provide a reason for central government to understand better the issues faced by the museum sector as a whole, and regional museums and galleries in particular. Without such national guidance, and opportunities for strategic change and rationalisation, museums may close in a disordered way, and their collections lost. In this way, the legacy of this generation to the next may be in danger.     

The impact of free entry to museums

The commitment of the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to ensuring free entry for all visitors to national museums and galleries by the end of 2001 left many of MORI's clients in the national institutions somewhat uncertain about the future. What impact would ‘going free’ have? Would those who might be described as ‘sociallyexcluded’ be encouraged through the doors? Would the money visitors saved on entrance fees be spent in the shops and restaurants?

The first question was answered in spectacular fashion when, in earlysummer 2002, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced a 62% increase in ‘visitor numbers’ in the seven months since entry charges were scrapped. While it is known that DCMS tends to use the terms ‘visitors’, ‘people’ and ‘visitor numbers’ to refer to visits per se, as a researcher two questions sprang to mind:

• Did these figures mean there were actually a lot more people visiting museums and galleries, or were the same people visiting more frequently?

• Was the boost in visiting restricted to the national museums and galleries, or were more people visiting museums and galleries generally?

MORI decided to see what more could be discovered about these extra visits by placing four questions about the British public's museum‐going habits on its GB Omnibus study in August 2002.

The results of that survey form the basis of this chapter. They demonstrate that, although the numbers of people visiting museums has increased significantly since 2001, the increase is greatest among those groups who have traditionally always gone to museums and galleries, while the increase among groups who might be described as socially excluded is much lower.

The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of MORI's findings for the future of the museums and galleries sector.