A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace. LYNN MESKELL. 2018. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiii + 372 pp. $33.99 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-19064-834-3

Lynn Meskell's A Future in Ruins begins with a paradox: Why is it that UNESCO's globally renowned World Heritage List includes so many important archaeological sites and yet UNESCO has seemingly had little impact on the discipline of archaeology itself? Through exhaustive archival research and ethnography—and even some autoethnography—Meskell reveals that although the discipline of archaeology was originally fundamental to the utopian “One World” vision of UNESCO, UNESCO's post-World War II dream was fundamentally altered by the escalating political maneuverings of its member states. She argues that the abandonment of archaeology's central role in UNESCO's culture sector in favor of a “monumental” approach to heritage has had dire consequences for archaeological sites and their local communities around the world.