Heritage in conflict

Memory, history, architecture

Abstract

García Cuetos, María Pilar, and Claudio Varagnoli, eds. Heritage in conflict. Memory, history, architecture. Ariccia: Aracne Editrice, 2015. The volume brings together studies by Spanish and Italian researchers analysing the complex interaction between memory, architecture, and armed conflict, addressing monumental restoration and post-war reconstruction in Spain and Europe from the Spanish Civil War to the dictatorships of the twentieth century. The chapters examine specific cases — from the Avezzano prisoner-of-war camp, the Alcázar of Toledo, and Brunete, to the Monte Sole massacre and the patrimonial manipulation under Ceaușescu — to show how regimes ideologically appropriated heritage and how contemporary art can reconvert military spaces into places of memory. The reviewer regards the book as an important landmark that contributes to integrating a conflict-laden past into European heritage history, offering indispensable lessons for building a more informed future.