• The first comprehensive history of archaeology during the nineteenth century, covering all areas of the world
• Enhances understanding of the contextualization of archaeology as a social discipline, a current `hot topic'
• Pays particular attention to the political ideologies of nationalism and imperialism, widening the book's appeal to students of history, sociology, geography, anthropology, and post-colonial studies

Readership: Scholars and students of archaeology; nineteenth-century history; the history of science; sociology; anthropology; post-colonial studies.

Margarita Diaz-Andreu, Senior Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, Durham University

"This kind of far-reaching scholarship is exceedingly difficult to produce, and only a few scholars possess the learning and historical judgment to pull it off. Victorianists should be grateful that Díaz-Andreu has applied herself to the task." - Robert D. Aguirre, Victorian Studies

"...substaintial study...well written and full of interesting information..." - Deirdre O'Sullivan The Society for Medieval Archaeology

"...breathtakingly ambitious...generalreaders can learn much from this challenging book. Specialists will find it invaluable , both for grand vision and for detailed narrative in areas beyond their own expertise." - Donald Malcolm Reidh

"This is not a leisurely read - the prose is dense, and the book encompases histories, geographies and ideas with which many will be unfamiliar - but the rewards are potentially commensurate with the huge labour of its writing." - Martin Bell, British Archaeology

"One can only admire the incredible range of her scholarship..." - Christopher Evans, Antiquity

1: An alternative account of the history of archaeology in the nineteenth century
I. The Early Archaeology of the Great Civilizations
2: Antiquities and political prestige in the early modern era
3: The archaeology of the French Revolution
4: Archaeology and the 1820 liberal revolution: the past in the independence of the Greek and Latin American nations
II. The Archaeology of Informal Imperialism
5: Informal imperialism in Europe and the Ottoman Empire: the consolidation of the mythical roots of the West
6: Biblical archaeology
7: Informal imperialism beyond Europe: the archaeology of the great civilizations in Latin America, China, and Japan
III. Colonial Archaeology
8: Colonialism and archaeology in South and South-East Asia
9: Classical versus Islamic antiquities in colonial archaeology: the Russian Empire and French North Africa
10: Colonialism and the archaeology of the primitive
IV. National Archaeology in Europe
11: The early search for a national past in Europe (1789-1820)
12: Archaeology and the liberal revolutions (c.1820-1860): nation, race, and language in the study of Europe's past
13: Evolutionism and positivism (c.1860-1900)
14: Conclusions