Publisher's Synopsis
Why monuments in a city? To whom are these monuments?Edinburgh has a rich heritage of public monuments erected to honour and recall people or events. But who are these people or events? Who is represented - and who is not? This book takes the reader on a journey of discovery to uncover who or what the monuments represent, with a summary of the special contributions behind each monument. The journey starts along Princes Street and its gardens (Chapter 1) before proceeding to Chapters covering the New Town, Calton Hill, the Royal Mile, Leith and the rest of the city (Chapter 6). Individuals and groups have donated benches in memory of loved ones and events (celebrating marriage) and some are described in Chapter 7.But the objective of the book is more than an exploration of Edinburgh's monuments, useful as that is. It poses questions. Why do we erect monuments and what do the monuments tell us about the city and its development? Who do we erect monuments to, and who should perhaps be honoured by monuments? The monuments are not simply static testaments to past people and events; they can open the door to what these people and events mean to us. This invites us on the journey of exploration, a journey that, by looking back in time looks forward. Edinburgh is an outward looking city and several monuments remind us of the new ideas and thoughts, the new approaches explored by philosophers and thinkers of the past and how these still influence life around the world today. Chapter 8, the final chapter, raises these questions, providing ideas for reflection, whilst noting that there are many ways of remembering people and events other than monuments of stone or metal.The author has produced two versions of his book on Edinburgh monuments, this version with black and white photographs and smaller text font and smaller physical size than its companion "A Journey with Edinburgh's Monuments", both available on Amazon. This version is more suitable for carrying when exploring the monuments. The core information is the same in both versions.Both have the theme of a journey of exploration of the city's monuments and what they tell us about the city.Both are updates on the original 2017 publication of "101 plus Edinburgh Monuments". Since publication several new monuments have been erected in Edinburgh including the Elephant in Princes Street Gardens (Feb 2019) and the monument to General Maczek (Nov 2018). The original 101 sections have now increased to 112, requiring a change to the title.An index at the end of the book facilitates searching for particular monuments of interest.
