St Cross Fellow Professor Dan Hicks publishes new book Every Monument Will Fall

dan hicks book

'Every Monument Will Fall' by Professor Dan Hicks

St Cross Fellow Professor Dan Hicks, Curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum and Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford, publishes his latest book, Every Monument Will Fall, on 1 May 2025. 

Part history, part biography, and part excavation, Every Monument Will Fall traces the deeper histories behind today's debates around art, colonialism, and memory. Professor Hicks explores the origins of disciplines like archaeology and anthropology, the creation of monuments, and the acquisition of contested cultural objects — weaving together stories that stretch from country houses in Yorkshire to Caribbean plantations and British colonial outposts. His book offers a powerful call for rethinking how we remember, and whose histories we choose to honour. 

The publication has already received wide acclaim. Professor Paul Gilroy has called it "an extraordinary intervention", Professor Alice Roberts describes it as "brave and clear-sighted", and the artist Isaac Julien praises it as "an astonishing tour de force". 

To mark the launch, Professor Hicks will be speaking at two public events: 

  • Thursday 1 May, 7–9pm, at Pushkin House/Swedenborg Hall, London, joined by a panel including journalist Bryan Knight, broadcaster and archaeologist Raksha Dave, writer Onyekachi Wambu, and art historian Professor Alyce Mahon. You can book tickets here. 
  • Wednesday 7 May, 5.30–6.30pm, at Blackwell’s Bookshop, Oxford, for a discussion chaired by Professor John Schofield (University of York) alongside Professor Nandini Chatterjee (St Cross Fellow), Professor Simukai Chigudu, Professor Christopher Morton, and Professor Corinne Fowler. You can book tickets here. 

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Professor Hicks reflected on the uncomfortable legacies embedded within museum collections, a theme that resonates throughout the book. You can read the Guardian article here. Professor Hicks also explored the ideas behind Every Monument Will Fall in a recent interview with the Society of Antiquaries. In the feature, he reflects on the intersections between archaeology, memory, and contemporary debates around heritage, and discusses how his research aims to challenge traditional narratives about public monuments and historical memory. You can read the full interview here.

The College extends its warmest congratulations to Professor Hicks on this important publication and invites all those with an interest in contemporary debates surrounding memory, heritage, and humanity to engage with his work. Every Monument Will Fall is published by Hutchinson Heinemann and available to purchase here.