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Argues against postmodernist authors that it is better to decode the history of environmentalism as a developmental logic of capitalism rather than as a particular narrative form. Environmental history is defined in the former terms as the study of how human agency shapes & modifies nature & constructs built environments & spatial configurations. It is suggested that this definition has led historians to the only totalizing social science, Marxism. Environmental history writing is situated in the context of three prior types of history: political, economic, & social/cultural. It is argued that, because environmental history encompasses the development of capitalism & its political, economic, social/cultural, & environmental revolutions, it is properly described as the culmination of history writing in the capitalist epoch. The more that nature is viewed as a product of labor, property, exploitation, & social struggle in particular contexts, the better the chances of developing a more socially just future. D. M. Smith

Profit ― getting more out of something than you put into it ― is the original genius of homo sapiens, who learned how to unleash the energy stored in wood, exploit the land, and refashion ecosystems. As civilization developed, we found more and more ways of extracting surplus value from the earth, often deploying brutally effective methods to discipline people to do the work needed. Historian Mark Stoll explains how capitalism supercharged this process and traces its many environmental consequences. The financial innovations of medieval Italy created trade networks that, with the European discovery of the Americas, made possible vast profits and sweeping cultural changes, to the detriment of millions of slaves and indigenous Americans; the industrial age united the world in trade and led to an energy revolution that changed lives everywhere. But when efficient production left society awash in goods, a new sort of capitalism, predicated on endless individual consumption, took its place. This story of incredible ingenuity and villainy begins in the Doge's palace in medieval Venice and ends with Jeff Bezos aboard his own spacecraft. Mark Stoll's revolutionary account places environmental factors at the heart of capitalism's progress and reveals the long shadow of its terrible consequences.

From the ancient glories of Bam and Varanasi to the teeming conurbations of Tokyo and Sao Paulo, cities are amongst our greatest creations. Yet at the start of the twenty-first century, with cities now home to more than half the world's population, there is increasing concern over their unchecked expansion and the detrimental effect this is having on the planet. This unfettered growth is affecting every ecosystem on Earth, from the deepest oceans to the highest mountains, as induced climate change and ever increasing demands upon the world's resources take effect. As the pace of urbanization

The authors discuss their book on our state's human and natural history as detailed from an environmental rather than a political viewpoint.

The authors discuss their book on our state's human and natural history as detailed from an environmental rather than a political viewpoint.

The authors discuss their book on our state's human and natural history as detailed from an environmental rather than a political viewpoint.

This book is an introductory instrument to the main themes of environmental history, illustrating its development over time, methodological implications, results achieved and those still under discussion. But the overriding aspiration is to show that the doubts, methods and knowledge elaborated by environmental history have a heuristic value that is far from negligible precisely in its attitude to the most consolidated major historiography. For this reason, this book gives an overview of environmental history as it is an essential component of the basic knowledge of global history. At the same time, it introduces specific aspects which are useful both for anyone wanting to deepen his/her studies of environmental historiography and for those interested in one of the many disciplinary areas - from rural history to urban history, from the history of technology to the history of public health, etc. with which environmental history develops a dialogue