Reviews

Douglas Crimp, On the Museum's Ruins (with photographs by Louise Lawler), Cambridge, Mass. and London: The MIT Press, 1993. xx + 348 pp., 110 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–262–03209–0. £24.95.

Clarissa Campbell Orr (ed.), Women in the Victorian Art World, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1995. xiv + 208 pp., 1 fig., 29 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–7190–4123–6. £14.99.

Diana Ketcham, Le Désert de Retz, Cambridge, Mass. & London: The MIT Press, 1994. vii + 135 pp., 99 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–262–11186–1. £35.95.

Anthony & Patricia Wylson, Theme Parks, Leisure Centres, Zoos and Aquaria, London: Longman, 1994. 183 pp., 107 figs., 109 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–582–099285. £60.00.

David Lambert, Peter Goodchild, & Judith Roberts, Researching a Garden's History: A Guide to Documentary and Published Sources, Reigate: Landscape Design Trust, in association with Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, University of York, 1995. 28 pp. 12 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–9518377–0–2. £6.00.

Mike Sixsmith (ed.), Touring Exhibitions: The Touring Exhibitions Group's Manual of Good Practice, Oxford: Butterworth‐Heinemann, 1995. xviii + 237 pp., ISBN 0–7506–2518‐x. £35.00.

Richard Harrison (ed.), Manual of Heritage Management, Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann and the Association of Independent Museums, 1994. xiii + 425 pp. ISBN 0–7506–0822–6. £65.00.

J. M. Fladmark (ed.), Sharing the Earth : Local Identity in Global Culture, London: Donhead, 1995. xviii + 381 pp., 70 b. & w. illus. ISBN 1–873394–19–5. £37.00.

Gary Edson and David Dean, The Handbook for Museums, London and New York: Routledge, 1994. xvi + 302 pp. ISBN 0–415–09952–8. £27.50.

Michael Wheeler (ed.), Ruskin and Environment: The Storm‐Cloud of the Nineteenth Century, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1995. x + 202 pp., 7 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–7190–4377–8. £40.00.

M. D. Anderson, History and Imagery in British Churches, London: John Murray, [1971], 1995. xxiv + 291 pp., 1 map, 18 figs., 93 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–7195–5414–4. £15.99.

Chris Brooks & Andrew Saint (eds.), The Victorian Church. Architecture and Society, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995. xii + 228 pp., 82 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–7190–4020–5. £16.99.

M. Christine Boyer, The City of Collective Memory: Its Historical Imagery and Architectural Entertainments, Cambridge, Mass., and London: The MIT Press, 1994. xii + 560 pp., 65 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–262–02371–7. £34.95.

John Glasson, Kerry Godfrey, Brian Goodey, Helen Absalom, & Jan Van der Borg, Towards Visitor Impact Management, Aldershot: Avebury, 1995. xii + 189 pp. ISBN 1–85972–054–4. £35.00.

Ann Bermingham & John Brewer (eds.), The Consumption of Culture 1600–1800. Image, Object, Text, London & New York: Routledge, 1995. xvi + 548 pp., 111 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–415–12135–5. £120.00.

B. W. Clapp An Environmental History of Britain since the Industrial Revolution, London and New York: Longman, 1994. 268 pp., 2 maps, 12 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–582–22626–0. £12.99.

Eilean Hooper‐Greenhill, Museum, Media, Message, London and New York: Routledge, 1995. xvi + 299 pp., 23 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–415–11672–4. £40.00.

A. Davey, B. Heath, D. Hodges, M. Ketchin & R. Milne, The Care and Conservation of Georgian Houses: A Maintenance Manual for Edinburgh New Town, Oxford: Butterworth, 4th ed., 1995. xxviii + 291 pp., 100 b. & w. illus. and 100 figs. ISBN 0–7506–1860–4. £40.00.

Philip Rahtz, English Heritage Book of Glastonbury, London: Batsford & English Heritage, 1993. 144 pp., 97 figs., ISBN 0–7134–6865–3. £14.99.     

New approaches to economic development in peripheral rural regions

This paper explores new approaches to economic development in peripheral regions in the context of constraints on public expenditure, declining employment in traditional natural resource based industries, and globalisation of the economy. Three conceptual pairs ‐resource mobility and immobility; tangible and intangible factors; and global‐local interrelations — underpin three ideas about these new approaches, and their impact on differential economic performance observed in otherwise similar localities and regions. A case study is given to illustrate the role played by less mobile cultural, social and environmental assets in these strategies. However, a key feature of the cases is the importance of both local and extra‐local linkages, often at international level, whether this has to do with market or non‐market activity. The conclusions raise questions for research about the root causes of differences in economic performance between rural localities, whether local initiatives will suffice to counter further likely declines in public subventions and natural resource based employment and also about the focus of policy in such regions.     

Archaeological evidence for the extinction of a breeding population of elephant seals in Tasmania in prehistoric times

Southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina L., do not inhabit the northwest coast of Tasmania today, but archaeological evidence indicates that they did so in prehistoric times, when they constituted an important food resource to the Aboriginal tribes of the region. Skeletal remains of at least 300 elephant seals were present in one midden alone. There is distinct sexual dimorphism in the canine teeth of elephant seals, and regular seasonal variations in the density of concentric layers of calcified dentine, as well as the pattern of these variations, provide insight into the age and reproductive history of individual animals. The sectioned canine teeth of 145 southern elephant seals (107 females, 38 males) from a Tasmanian midden were examined to provide information on the age and sex of the seals as well as aspects of their reproductive history. The age distributions differed between the sexes, and partly explain the different frequencies of males and females. All the males were young, immature individuals, none more than 6 years old, which is about the age at which a secondary growth spurt occurs in males and results in a marked sexual disparity in body size. By contrast, 47% of the females were of breeding age, 26% had given birth to pups, and several were up to 20 years of age. At least 26% of animals were estimated to be less than 3 months old, the approximate age at which they go to sea for the first time, confirming that they were born on the northwest Tasmanian coast. Animals were killed throughout the year, and there is evidence of change in reproductive pattern over time, consistent with a response to predation pressure. The evidence points to the conclusion that the population was exterminated by Aboriginal hunters, through selective exploitation of smaller animals, which included significant numbers of breeding females. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.