Book reviews

New works in geography

Empire Forestry and the Origins of Environmentalism. Gregory A. Barton. Pp. xiii + 192. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0 521 81417 0 (hbk).

Claiming Rural Identities: Dynamics, Contexts, Policies. Tialda Haartsen, Peter Groote &; Paulus P.P. Huigen (eds). Pp. viii + 166. Assen: Van Gorcum, 2000. Price €17.02, ISBN 90 232 3567 3 (pbk).

Geographies of Health. Anthony C. Gatrell. Pp. xv + 294. Oxford: Blackwell. 2002. Price £16.99 (pbk), ISBN 0 631 21985 4 (pbk).

The Peopling of Britain: The Shaping of the Human Landscape. Paul Slack and Ryk Ward (eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press 2002. Price £50.00 (hbk), ISBN 0 19 829759 9 (hbk).

Focus on Scotland

William Speirs Bruce: Polar Explorer and Scottish Nationalist. Peter Speak. Pp. 144. Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland Publishing, 2003. Price £9.99 (pbk), ISBN 1 901663 71 X (pbk).     

Using Multibeam Echo‐Sounder Data to Identify Shipwreck Sites: archaeological assessment of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey data

This paper describes Phase 1 of the project ‘Archaeological Applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS) Data’, analysing bathymetric and backscatter data derived from multibeam surveys off the north coast of Ireland. In particular, the usability of the data for shipwreck detection, identification and site characterization is explored. In Phase 1, the data was screened for anomalous sea‐bed features, which were subsequently described, catalogued and categorized according to their archaeological potential and cross‐referenced against existing records. A planned second phase of this project will examine each anomaly in greater detail together with the local and regional hydrodynamic conditions. © 2010 The Authors     

Book reviews

Abraham Ben‐Zvi, Decade of Transition: Eisenhower, Kennedy, and the Origins of the American‐Israeli Alliance. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Pp. 218, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 0 23111 262 9 HB, 0 23111 263 7 PB.

Kenneth W. Stein, Heroic Diplomacy: Sadat, Kissinger, Carter, Begin, and the Quest for Arab‐Israeli Peace. London and New York: Routledge, 1998. Pp. xix + 324, appendix, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 041592 154 6 HB.

Antonio Donno (ed.), Ombre di guerra fredda. Gli Stati Uniti nel Medio Oriente durante gli anni di Eisenhower, 1953–1961. Naples: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1998. Pp. 754, bibliography, notes. ISBN 8 88114 584 7 HB.

Raanan Rein, In the Shadow of the Holocaust and the Inquisition: Israel's Relations with Francoist Spain. Trans. Martha Grenzebach. London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 1997. Pp. 278, Notes, sources, bibliography, index. ISBN 0 71464 796 9 HB, 0 71464 351 3 PB.

Alan Dowty, The Jewish State: A Century Later. Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press, 2001. Pp. xiv + 337, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 0 52020 941 9 PB.

Daniel Gavron, The Kibbutz: Awakening from Utopia. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. Pp xvi + 295, glossary, selected bibliography, index. ISBN 0 84769 526 3 HB.

Nahum Karlinsky, Citrus Blossoms: Jewish Entrepreneurship in Palestine, 1890–1939. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2000. Pp. 1 + 315, bibliography, indices. ISBN 9 65493 089 7 HB.

Yaacov N. Goldstein, From Fighters to Soldiers: How the Israeli Defense Forces Began. Brighton, UK, and Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press, 1998. Pp. ix + 302, forward by Yoav Gelber, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 1 90221 001 8 HB, 1 90221 002 6 PB.     

Is cultural democracy possible in a museum? Critical reflections on Indigenous engagement in the development of the exhibition Encounters: Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum

Recent museological scholarship emphasises visitor participation and democratic access to cultural heritage as key to securing the ongoing relevance and future sustainability of museums. But do legacies of colonialist collecting practices and hierarchical conventions of representation in museums afford the possibility of genuine cultural democracy? This paper explores this question via detailed analysis of the Encounters exhibition, developed by the National Museum of Australia in partnership with the British Museum and promoted as an unprecedented partnership between the institutions and Indigenous Australian communities. Drawing on an extensive and emerging literature on museums, community engagement, participation and democracy, in tandem with analysis of public critiques and Indigenous responses to the exhibition, the paper suggests that the extent of Indigenous agency within the collaboration fell short of the articulated goals of the project. It concludes that the concept of maximal participation and release of agency to communities of interest may be difficult to achieve within existing museum frameworks.