''Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas, and Uncomfortable Truths'' presents multi-perspective critical analyses of the ethics and principles that guide the conservation of works of art and design, archaeological artefacts, buildings, monuments, and heritage sites on behalf of society. Contributors from the fields of philosophy, sociology, history, art and design history, museology, conservation, architecture, and planning and public policy address a wide range of conservation principles, practices, and theories from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, encouraging the reader to make comparisons across subjects and disciplines. By wrestling with and offering ways of disentangling the ethical dilemmas confronting those who maintain and sustain cultural heritage for today and tomorrow, ''Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas, and Uncomfortable Truths'' provides an essential reference text for conservation professionals, museum and heritage professionals, art and cultural historians, lecturers and students, and all others invested in cultural heritage theories and practices.

Alison Richmond, as a Senior Conservator in the Victoria and Albert Museum and Deputy Head of the Conservation Department at the Royal College of Art, maintains teaching and research roles in conservation theory, principles and ethics, and has developed decision-making tools for conservators. She is an Accredited Conservator-Restorer (ACR), a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation (FIIC), and a Trustee of the UK’s Institute of Conservation (Icon) since 2005.

Alison Bracker received her PhD in the History of Art from the University of Leeds, and manages the Events & Lectures programme at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. As co-founder of Bracker Fiske Consultants, she advises on the presentation, description, documentation, and care of artworks comprising modern media, and lectures and publishes widely on the theoretical and practical issues arising from the conservation of non-traditional and impermanent materials in contemporary works of art.