After Modernity is a jointly authored volume by two of the most eminent practitioners in this emerging field, most commonly known as ‘contemporary archaeology’. Rodney Harrison is a prolific writer on the discipline and its closely aligned field of heritage studies, and John Schofield is equally significant to twentieth-century conflict archaeology and heritage. Their aim is an ambitious one – to provide ‘a new agenda for the study of the materiality of later modern societies’ (p 2) – and in so doing they fittingly explore, delineate, highlight and, indeed, justify this most recent sub-field of the discipline.

The volume is structured into two sections: Part i, ‘Surveying the Field’, which provides a traditional history of the sub-discipline and highlights the essentially interdisciplinary nature of its theoretical approaches and the significance of archaeological methodologies; and Part ii, ‘Archaeological Approaches to Late Modern Societies’, which takes a multi-scalar approach to conducting contemporary archaeology through the various material categories that any archaeologist commonly encounters. Interestingly, the last, and broadest, scale of analysis is the section on ‘Non-places and Virtual Worlds’. Although a departure from the strongly materialist emphasis of earlier chapters, it is particularly relevant in reflecting the interests and innovations of such a young discipline, which has by necessity and inclination embraced contemporary conceptions of placelessness associated with supermodernity and the role of e-technology. This directed, structural approach enables those with little current understanding of the field safely to navigate what could be, by its very nature, a bewilderingly changeable and diverse sub-discipline.

The volume is well written, presents difficult concepts in a way that a non-specialist can understand and makes a real attempt at providing a broad range of case studies, with analysis of work being conducted in the UK, United States, Australia, South Africa and Scandinavia in particular. While ambitious, the authors do acknowledge that their study is of a very particular time and place – ‘developed, post-industrial societies during the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first’ (p 2) – and as such avoids claims of being conclusive. The volume could have benefited from including an even greater range of case studies rather than, at times, repeating well-known examples, such as ‘the Van Project’, which was referenced on a number of occasions. Indeed, one may have hoped in a volume exploring such an emerging, vibrant and creative sub-discipline that there could have been more of an emphasis on emerging talent and projects, rather than concentrating on the polished and published. This would have been a welcome departure from the norm and would have made the volume truly comprehensive. While theoretically engaged and knowledgeable, it could be argued that there is an overemphasis on particular theorists and practitioners, with numerous references to the undoubtedly seminal works of Buchli and Lucas (Reference Buchli and Lucas2001) and Gonzáles-Ruibal (Reference Gonzáles-Ruibal2005, Reference Gonzáles-Ruibal2006, Reference Gonzáles-Ruibal2007 and Reference Gonzáles-Ruibal2008), but with little acknowledgement of any critiques that have circulated regarding their ideas since publication. Lastly, my own personal bugbear, is that for a volume that aims to be a handbook for students and the uninitiated the bibliography is problematic, as often papers from edited volumes are referenced solely by the editors’ names and date of publication with titles excluded, which can make reference chasing cumbersome, if not difficult. Despite these minor criticisms, it would be disingenuous to suggest that this is not an indispensable introduction to the discipline of contemporary archaeology, particularly for those who know little about its emergence, aims, methods, theories and continual re-definition. The impeccable pedigree of Harrison and Schofield's perspectives – and their equally commendable discipline in selection – has allowed a very readable as well as recognizable biography of contemporary archaeology to emerge.