Admittedly, this is not a book on archaeology. Yet, it is well worth reading and thought-provoking, not least for those interested in history and archaeology. When future scholars look back at the history of our time, what will it be known for? May some of its index fossils be scanning and surveillance devices and, should they survive at a 21st century Vindolanda, biometric passports – symptomatic for an era when everybody was first and foremost a suspect?
Raab demonstrates powerfully that a culture of distrust makes nobody any safer. What is sold to us as ‘security’ is like ‘putting expensive, complicated locks on the top windows while frequently leaving the back door swinging open’. Excesses of airport ‘security’, so irrational that those responsible can no longer explain them, are just one example to prove the case. Future generations are bound to agree that the assault on liberty, which people have fought for in the past, has made the world less free and less safe.
This article is an extract from the full article published in World Archaeology Issue 38. Click here to subscribe