This book addresses the complex interaction of past and present, bringing together historians and anthropologists in a fascinating study of ritual and symbolism which poses new questions for the understanding of our history.

Originally published: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : inventing traditions -- The invention of tradition : the Highland tradition of Scotland -- From a death to a view : the hunt for the Welsh past in the romantic period -- The context, performance and meaning of ritual : the British monarchy and the 'invention of tradition, c. 1820-1977 -- Representing authority in Victorian India -- The invention of tradition in colonial Africa -- Mass-producing traditions : Europe, 1870-1914.