The Face of the Earth: Environment and World History (Sources and Studies in World History) - Softcover

Hughes, J. Donald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076560423X ISBN 13: 9780765604231

Publisher: Routledge, 1999

Synopsis

Although the organizing principle of virtually every world history text is "development", the editor of this volume maintains that this traditional approach fails to address the issue of sustainability. By adopting the ecological process as their major theme, the authors show how the process of human interaction with the natural environment unfolded in the past, and offer perspective on the ecological crises in our world at the beginning of the 21st century. Topics range from broad regional studies that examine important aspects of the global environment that affect nations, to a study of the widespread influence of one important individual on his nation and beyond. The authors take different approaches, but all share the conviction that world history must take ecological process seriously, and they all recognize the ways in which the living and non-living systems of the earth have influenced the course of human affairs.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The new narrative of world history must have ecological process as its major theme. This book includes seven essays written by historians who take different approaches but share a conviction that world-history writing must take ecological processes seriously. All the essays center on modern history, particularly in the twentieth century, or treat it in an important way, although they may relate modern issues to their roots in earlier times.

This book will challenge world historians to take the environment seriously, as it also challenges environmental historians to take the global dimension of their subject seriously.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 076560423X
• ISBN 13: 9780765604231
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224