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Book Review
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From the Book Review Editor | |
After a wonderful sabbatical year in England, I am back in the saddle as book review editor. All of us are in debt to David Hsiung, who handled his duties as acting book review editor with great good grace, judgment, and skill. I hope you will join me in thanking him (hsiung@juniata.edu) for his generous service.
EDMUND RUSSELL
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| The Columbia Guide to American Environmental History. By Carolyn Merchant. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. xviii + 448 pp. Notes, bibliography, index. Cloth $50.00
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| Carolyn Merchant has become the assayist for those who mine the field of American environmental history. Now, as Dave Hsiung noted to me, she is "taking stock" in this comprehensive and accessible guide. This book finds the nuggets amidst the dross. Whether you are an expert or student, professional or novice, this is an essential book that should be on all our shelves. Also make certain your library acquires a copy. |
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The book is divided into four main parts: a fine 190-page history that could stand on its own (how about a separate paperback edition?); an alphabetic list of major people, concepts, laws, agencies, and institutions covering 57 pages; a chronology or timeline of 19 pages; and an extensive resource guide covering 154 pages. Equally important, this material is well indexed. |
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Not the least, in a five-page introduction, Merchant has finally given us her view on the nature and features of environmental history as, in her nicely put words, "both one of the oldest and newest fields within human history" (p. xiii). Environmental history's challenge is to bring nature into the human story. She emphasizes the importance of oral and narrative traditions, public records, public perceptions, and scientific advances, as well as the usual journal articles and monographs. Merchant offers several essential starting points: nature's own story, biological interactions with humans, the impact of forms of production, biological and social forms of reproduction (gender), the effects of political and economic change, the history of ideas, culture, the arts, and the power of narratives "that are both progressive and declensionist, comic and tragic, intricate and bold" (p. xvi). The parallel history of economics is somewhat slighted, but technology is not, and Merchant never forgets our foundation in the environmental sciences. A statement on context with "traditional" American history would have been helpful. Some guesses on the future of environmental history, including new directions, would have been stimulating (and could be corrected or updated in future editions). |
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Quibbles, of course, are usually a form of second-guessing. Part III, the chronology, is the least useful feature of the guide; in most cases the items could have been incorporated in the narrative history of Part I. Indian removal in Part I may be overemphasized for this guide, but an earlier assessment of "the ecological Indian" (pp. 20–21) is essential in the fine section on pre-European history. Reviews of water, agriculture, and natural resources are somewhat limited. Forestry is covered extremely well, as are urbanization, industrialization, and resulting conservation, preservation, environmentalism, and regulation. |
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On occasion Part I is more of a statement on today's "idea" of environmental history than the subject matter itself; see the discussion of wilderness (pp. 34–36), the mid-continent Plains (pp. 18–20), or the Dust Bowl (pp. 96–97). On the other hand, the South, for once, receives proper attention, and the section on ecology (pp. 159–173) is a brilliant synthesis. African Americans and women (pp. 94–96) receive attention, although there is little on modern Hispanics, today our largest minority. Literature is another missing feature, especially the historical impact of popular fiction (for example Rolvaag, Cather, Stegner, and T. C. Boyle) and essayists (Eiseley, Gould, and Quammen). A global context might be useful. |
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More important, this reviewer sorely missed a geographical dimension to this guide, notably a selection of historical and topical maps. This reviewer feels that environmental historians often don't give sufficient credit to the pioneering work of geographers; this dimension is weak. Little has been done anywhere, for example, on the popular impact of the 120-year-old National Geographic upon American environmental perception. Two or three representative Hudson River School paintings, perhaps a few diagrams of ecological processes and environmental law, and several portraits of leading figures also would have helped. |
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Part II, A to Z, repeats some items in the historical narrative, is strong on biography of leading figures, and sketchy (deliberately?) on most terminology. As to Part IV, Merchant has taken a leading role in digital researching, archiving, and websites, which is reflected in the section on websites. (Is this now where we all begin our work?) Merchant properly recognizes how important yet ephemeral these resources can be. (A reminder at the beginning of this section might be helpful.) |
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This is a one-volume resource not to be missed. It will be our primary reference work on American environmental history. Start here first, and then go online. True, a few items will become outdated, but that can be readily corrected in a future edition. Or perhaps, Carolyn, in an online upgrade, just like software? |
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Reviewed by John Opie, The University of Chicago. |
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