Ill-informed and short-sighted attitudes prevalent among politicians and the media are answered in this presentation of a balanced picture of a great institution which lives in the world but struggles to make itself understood. The book sets out the history of the Museum's collections, its collecting philosophy, its recording and conservation practices, and its endeavors to maintain and improve the buildings for public use. Its high cost-effectiveness is shown and a strong plea made for proper funding in the future. The wrong-headedness of the lobby which aims at restitution of cultural property is argued, and the Museum's role as pioneer and role-model stressed. It is scholarship which underpins everything the Museum does, and this fact must be recognized and supported. -- AATA