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Britain's systems of imperial administration provided ample opportunity for self-seeking individuals to exploit. I argue that the career of Rupert Gunnis (1899–1965) in colonial Cyprus is one such case, in which even local laws were transgressed with impunity. His initial position as Aide-de-Camp to the Governor, Sir Ronald Storrs (1926–1932), established him as an influential member of the small British colonial community, affording him a power that he continued to exert as Inspector of Antiquities and informal adviser to the authoritarian Governor Richmond Palmer (1933–1939). Neither Storrs nor Palmer intervened to curb Gunnis's suspected activity in breach of local laws against the export of antiquities and against homosexual behaviour. The two probable offences were linked through the close relations that he developed with the island's Police force. Gunnis's high social standing in Cyprus and in Britain, achieved through assiduous networking, suffered after his falling-out with Palmer. In revenge, he challenged the Governor's position by participating in the nascent Cypriot movement in favour of a return to constitutional government. Gunnis's escape from Cyprus to avoid arrest brought an end to this unprecedented challenge to a Governor from one who had successfully manipulated the system to his own ends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sir,--In NB (March 8), J.C. refers to the two poems that Anthony Burgess submitted as translations of work by the Roman poet G. G. Belli, one of them ('Two uses [...]

The sacrosanct status of the graves of John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley in Rome was acknowledged in formal decisions taken in the 1880s and 1890s. In the twentieth century, their depictions in art and literature differed from those of the previous century. Requests 'to be buried near the poets' in this active cemetery have affected Shelley's grave more than Keats's. It was rather the latter's condition following WWII bombing of the cemetery that the press unfairly criticized. Reinforced by regular commemoration ceremonies, the continuing sanctity of the poets' graves has survived despite various attempts to 'improve' them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I suppose it was the sheer beauty of the place, a green oasis of peace in the heart of Rome, that first appealed to me. Only gradually did its history, [...]

Many visitors in the nineteenth century to the grave of John Keats in Rome thought it 'neglected' or 'solitary' and 'unshaded'. Today's critics often characterize the grave as 'marginal', both literally and metaphorically, while ignoring the city authorities' proposal to demolish it in the 1880s. An analysis of the grave's original setting and its subsequent renovations suggests instead that it enjoyed a privileged position. Historical descriptions, when considered together with visitors' accounts – a valuable source if used critically – and little-known artists' depictions of Keats's grave prompt a re-assessment of ideas of its 'marginality' and 'neglect' in the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1930s Dubai and Sharjah in the Trucial States (now the United Arab Emirates) were regular stops on Imperial Airways’ England – India route. But in early 1947 the successor British airline British Overseas Airways Corporation discontinued service to them. The local market for air travel connecting the Gulf shaikhdoms, which were de facto British protectorates, was undermined just as the expanding oil industry most needed reliable scheduled flights. For fear of competition following its ratification of the Chicago Convention, Britain still restricted access to the airfields at Kuwait, Bahrain and Sharjah. For four years the Trucial States had no regular air service. Its wireless facilities led to the survival of the Sharjah airfield, shared by the Royal Air Force and International Aeradio Limited, a new British telecommunications company. Britain’s control over air services and their post-war disruption arguably contributed to delaying the socio-economic development of the Emirates that oil production would make possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prosecution in Cyprus of an Italian citizen for illicit excavation in 1878 is a very early case in modern cultural heritage law. In taking over from the Ottoman empire the administration of Cyprus in June 1878, Britain inherited the Ottoman legal system, including its 1874 law on antiquities. Four months later, the British arrested Alessandro Palma di Cesnola for flouting a newly announced ban on excavation. The evidence of official, confidential records reveals the steps leading to the Italian's arrest, trial and conviction in court. His trial followed Ottoman legal procedures, but the verdict was decided by the district commissioner, a British military officer unfamiliar with local law and languages. Alessandro Palma di Cesnola's claims of American citizenship and a diplomatic status are shown to have been invalid. A closing review suggests that the British Museum was influential in prompting the ban on excavation and that moral and financial pressures led Alessandro Palma di Cesnola to ignore it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short documentary Air Outpost is one of three films commissioned from Strand Films by Imperial Airways in 1936-37 and produced by Paul Rotha. It focused on one overnight stop on the airline’s India service: the airfield and town of Sharjah in the Trucial States (now the United Arab Emirates). British policy in the Gulf carefully controlled access to the Trucial States by Westerners, so the release of a documentary about this region was unprecedented. Rotha’s published and unpublished writings are used to argue that he selected Sharjah for its exotic appeal as a result of his own visit there in 1932 while shooting Contact, also for Imperial Airways. For a film commissioned by an airline for marketing purposes, Air Outpost shows almost nothing of the passenger experience. Rather than this having been Rotha’s deliberate omission, it is argued that it resulted from practical difficulties encountered during filming. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports on the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property's (ICCROM) redesign of its website as part of its communications strategy. Review of publications policy; Consistent use of its logo; Target audience of the ICCROM website; Reference point for research in conservation.

The article focuses on how conservators best assure the protection of art collections for which they are responsible and how they can best organize the recovery of collections which have either been removed or have remained inaccessible during the period of hostilities. It suggests that exchange of information must concern the fruits of experience in managing cultural heritage protection in war situations. It also considers the importance of full documentation of collections for conservators.

The article focuses on the views of several archaeologists on the capability of Peter Ucko in managing archaeological sites and landscape at the Institute of Archaeology in London, England. They illustrate Ucko's description of archaeology, as not only a research development but also as discipline enclosed in a political and social context. They emphasize that the Institute has been pioneered in archaeological conservation, training and Museum Studies developments.