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"The English word "environment" dates to the mid-nineteenth century, and the concept that it was invented to describe is not much older. Only since the late eighteenth century, and only in certain contexts, has it become common to believe that life can best be explained in environmental terms. Surroundings is the first full history of the concept - one that shows how it became compelling to particular communities of people. Today we confront the legacies of this long history, which the author argues has made it difficult to speak coherently and persuasively about questions of environmental justice and equity. The history recounted in Surrounded can help us better understand why we find ourselves in this predicament and what we might do about it. For it uncovers not only the diversity of forms that environmentalism has taken in the past but how paying attention them can open our eyes to the promising new varieties of environmentalism that are emerging today"--

This book is the first volume of a monograph series published by the Socio-Economic History Society, Japan. The purpose of the series is to make works by Japanese scholars accessible to a wider readership and to increase the knowledge of scholars in this field, particularly in relation to Asia. This volume includes four chapters on energy and the environment of Japan, China, and Britain, and four short book reviews on recent academic works published in Japanese and English. The four chapters cover the following topics: the relationship between deforestation and the development of the silk reeling industry in a district of Nagano Prefecture (central Japan) from the 1870s to the 1900s and the subsequent shift from firewood to coal; the importance of timber supplies for the development of industry as illustrated by a case study on the supply of timber for use as rail sleepers in the Japanese national railway network during the prewar period; a methodological survey of the history of ecology and the environment in China; and an analysis of the British Smoke Nuisance Abatement Act of 1821 as a measure that incorporated the interests of politicians, landlords, and industrialists.

"Now in its second edition and refreshed by a decade of new research, The Environment in World History uncovers the deep-rooted causes of interconnected climate, biodiversity, and ecological crises that have brought the environment to the top of the global political agenda in the twenty-first century. Its expanded chapters and case studies explore a wide range of issues including: the hunting of wildlife and the loss of biodiversity across the globe; deforestation and the development of strategies to protect the world's forests; soil degradation caused by worldwide agricultural expansion, one of the most profound ways that humans have altered the planet; the widening impact of urban-industrial growth and the deepening ecological footprints of the world's cities; and the rising levels of air, land and water pollution as the trade-off for continued economic growth worldwide. Covering the last five hundred years, it offers an essential environmental perspective on well-known world history narratives of imperialism and colonialism, trade and commerce, technological progress, and the advance of civilisation. Clearly written and fully up-to-date, it is an invaluable resource for all students of world history and environmental studies"--

'A History of the Australian Environment Movement' by Drew Hutton and Libby Connors is reviewed.

This book provides a comprehensive and comprehensible history of China from prehistory to the present. Focusing on the interaction of humans and their environment, the author traces changes in the physical and cultural world that is home to a quarter of humankind. Through both word and image, this work illuminates the chaos and paradox inherent in China's environmental narrative, demonstrating how historically sustainable practices can, in fact, be profoundly ecologically unsound. The author also reevaluates China's traditional "heroic" storyline, highlighting the marginalization of nature that followed the spread of Chinese civilization while examining the development of a distinctly Chinese way of relating to and altering the environment. And also, he makes the compelling argument that all of humanity has a stake in China's environmental future

1. Pre-American ecology : environmental alteration is addressed (1100-1854) -- 2. Colonial environmentalism : the first land use & timber regulations (1681) -- 3. Transcending society : the sacrament of wilderness (1862) -- 4. The national park system : preserving wilderness for public use (1865) -- 5. Animals and the environment : creation of the ASPCA (1866) -- 6. The timber barons : profit vs. sustainability (1889) -- 7. The conservationists : save what is left of the forests (1901) -- 8. Naturalist in the capital, Theodore Roosevelt : American wilderness as America's cultural heritage (1908) -- 9. The park service : reforming the federal park management system (1908) -- 10. Lobbyists for life : devastating effects form unlikely alliance (1936) -- 11. The whole of the wild : interconnectiveness of nature (1944) -- 12. Change is in the air : the first Air Pollution Control Act (1955) -- 13. Environmental progress : synthetic pesticides and corporate accountability (1962) -- 14. The new danger : the protection of endangered species (1966) -- 15. Smoke on the water : the Environmental Protection Agency (1970) -- 16. The environmental days : the first Earth Day (1970) -- 17. Beyond the government : Greenpeace makes international headlines (1975) -- 18. Pollution solutions : changes in the automobile industry (1970) -- 19. Ozone depletion : success of the Montreal Protocol (1987) -- 20. Climate chaos part I : the first warning is sounded (1847) -- 21. Climate chaos part II : climate-change denial (1980s-2000s) -- 22. Globalizing environmentalism : international conferences (1972-2017) -- 23. Oceans in the balance : the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (1997) -- 24. Urbane ecology : development of green cities (1800s-present) -- 25. Renewing perspectives : harnessing wind, water, and sun (1960s-present) -- 26. Cyclic waste : reduce, reuse, recycle (1970s-present) -- 27. America's black heart : the debate over coal (2017) -- 28. Leaving the environment behind : environmental policies rolled back (2017).