On one hand, if someone said to me that history in academia has become too specialized, I would think that a book on shrubs and beavers in 1600s New England would be a perfect example. On the other hand, I have thoroughly enjoyed this book on 1600s-era shrubs and beavers. This was remarkably interesting all around and exposed me to an area of history that I never knew existed.
William Cronon carries us along further on the wings of leftist history by pointing out how European colonists disturbed the balance between man and nature that Native Americans and the environment maintained for centuries. Since Native Americans had a different sense of property, if it could even be called that, from the colonists, and since all that could be commodified by the white man would be, nature never stood a chance. Simply put, Indians lived in better harmony with nature’s abilities to provide the resources for a small number of humans to sustain a communal existence. Furthermore, the Indians effectively contributed to nature’s rhythms by planting, fishing, hunting, chopping, and burning resources in ways that replenished the environment.
Prescott and Bloch, like Cronon, describe the environment in detail, sometimes excruciating detail. For Prescott and Bloch, natural arrangements are important and have an impact on what people do. The earlier authors describe the landscape of the environment, much as one might describe how a person uses a chair or walks through a building - the environment is more static and maybe even a tool to be used by man. With Cronon and the idea of ecology, man is but one living thing among many, with all of them interacting and having an impact on each other. The environment, in Cronon’s book, is practically a character in the story of history, one that can help or hinder mankind, depending on how man treats and relates with the environment.
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