Artefact, by Alec Ingham

A black and white book cover titled Artefact by Alec Ingham, featuring a large historic building with spires. The subtitle reads, Extraordinary buildings, rare objects and exquisite artworks. Its no wonder that heads are sometimes turned.

Alec Ingham is the pen name of Pete Brown, who has more than 20 years’ experience of working in the heritage sector, including museums, galleries and historic houses and this work of fiction is based on that knowledge. His first novel sees investigator Joe Bosisto undercover at the fictional Russell Museum.

He is on the trail of an employee who has been flogging artefacts on the dark web, while a repatriation request from Java leads to the revelation that the stolen objects have been replaced with copies. The first page of the book gets straight into the day-to-day business of museums, with mentions of grant assessments, an arts charity and a collections development fund.

Manual of Museum Management for Museums in Dynamic Change, by Gail Dexter Lord

Cover of Manual of Museum Management: for Museums in Dynamic Change by Gail Dexter Lord, Third Edition. Features bold geometric patterns in blue, red, and white on a dark purple background.

The third edition of this book covers a wide range of areas of museum work including staffing; management and leadership; the uses and impact of digital technology; infrastructure and more. The author co-founded US-based museum consultancy Lord Cultural Resources.

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A Programme of Absolute Disorder: Decolonising the Museum, by Francoise Vergès

Text in bold, colorful letters on a multicolored background reads: A Programme of Absolute Disorder Decolonising the Museum Françoise Vergès.

The historian, activist and educator explores the idea of the universal museum and Europe’s self-appointed claim to be the guardian of global heritage. She concludes that museums need a programme of “absolute disorder” to truly decolonise.