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The tourists' gaze, the Cretans glance: anthropology and tourism on a Greek island

This book uses archaeological and ethnographic discourses to study the use of the past in the present, mainly in respect of archaeological sites and museums, as conceived and asserted by a range of individuals and groups. In doing so, the remains of Bronze Age Crete are used as a case study. Tourism in Crete has experienced solid growth since 1970s, to the extent that today the island attracts mainly the mass market segment. As a result, the majority of past research on tourism in Crete (e.g. Andriotis, 2005; Andriotis & Vaughan 2003; Briassoulis 2003) has been focused on mass tourism and its impacts, neglecting the appeal of archaeological sites and museums to incoming tourists. For this reason, Philip Duke’s focus on Crete’s Minoan past represents a significant contribution to the tourism literature. The book starts with a preface by the Series Editor, Hellaine Silverman, who concludes that the book ‘will surely stimulate discussion and promote further scholarly attention to the role of heritage exploitation in today’s globalised world of tourism and commodification’ (p. 11). It continues with an introduction by the author, explaining the rationale of his study and describing the main contents of the book. The introduction is followed by six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the main arguments of the author; Chapter 2 contains background information about the present state of knowledge on the Bronze Age or, as Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated the palace at Knossos called it, the ‘Minoan’ archaeology of Crete; Chapter 3 focuses on tourist gazing at the remains of Bronze Age Crete and how tourists interact with the past and present Cretan culture; Chapter 4 analyses the sources of information that are available to incoming tourists about Bronze Age archaeological sites; and Chapter 5 sustains a strict view on the role of modern society as a factor for heritage tourism and proposes five factors that have created the past that is on show to the public. Finally, in the conclusion, the author proposes a schematic understanding of the factors that construct the Minoan past, namely the nexus between the present and the past, and draws numerous conclusions on how the study contributes to wider disciplinary issues. In addition the book includes a site gazetteer in an appendix. One of the book’s major merits is the ease with which it makes its topic accessible to readers who do not have a detailed knowledge of the nexus between past and present tourist gazes in relation to the remains of Bronze Age Crete. Its greatest strength unquestionably lies in its focus on the primary experiences and observations of the author. In addition, the book offers an interesting methodological perspective. The use of triangulated research methods (personal diaries, ethnographic interviews, site guidebooks, and tourist brochures) enhances the credibility of the investigation of the complex phenomenon of experiencing the past. However, while the book provides a critical commentary of the existing literature, its main weakness is the existence of various inconsistencies, the most notable