Davis (museology, Newcastle U., Britain) set out to debunk the notion of an ecomuseum, but by the end of the first edition, published in 1999 by Leicester University Press, he acknowledged that such institutions were in existence and operation, though he still considered them an ephemeral phenomenon in the world of museums. Here he shows how wrong he was, restructuring the book to account for the acceptance and spread of the ecomuseum ideal in countries around the world. He covers the historical and philosophical background; ecomuseums in France, continental Europe, the anglophone world, Africa and Central and South America, and the Middle East and Asia; and re-evaluating the ecomuseum. In the first addition, all known ecomuseums were listed in the appendix. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)