Grave Robery and Return of the King

IMPERIALISM, ART AND RESTITUTION

This book is about the repatriation, or not, of great works of art and antiquity taken during the Age of Imperialism and held today by European and American museums. The Elgin Marbles are the most famous example, but there are thousands of others. The nations of origin, supported by UNESCO, want these cultural treasures returned, while the museums unsurprisingly prefer to keep them. Public interest in the outcome runs high. In this volume prominent museum and government officials and leading scholars consider the ultimate disposition of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum, the bust of Nefertiti in Berlin, and American Indian artifacts and human remains in American museums.

JOHN HENRY MERRYMAN Stanford University