"This fascinating book, ... points out how peoples and nations can use national identity to erase the past, to recreate it, to cause it to flourish, to meld it in with the present and the future."--Peter Rollins, Journal of American Culture "Brilliantly conceived and meticulously edited; the contributions are uniformly excellent... No better introduction to the burgeoning field of historical memory is likely to be found."--Merrill D. Peterson, The Journal of American History "Scholars of collective memory, and the sociology of culture more generally, will find much that is provocative and poignant in this collection."--Robin Wagner-Pacifici, Contemporary Sociology "This is a vital book which deserves our utmost attention."--Martin Evans, History Today "Demonstrates that 'memory work' reveals as much about the present as about the past. And that can make extraordinary history."--Christine Schwartz, The Voice Literary Supplement