An environmental history of Great Britain : from 10,000 years ago to the present. / I.G. Simmons.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Simmons, I. G. (Ian Gordon), 1937-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nature--Effect of human beings on--Great Britain--History.

Nature.

Human geography--Great Britain--History.

Human geography.

History.

Nature--Effect of human beings on.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xi, 419 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2001]

Summary:

This is a history of the environment in England, Wales, and Scotland, and of the interactions of people, place, and nature since the last ice sheet withdrew some ten thousand years ago. It is concerned with the changing cultures (in the full anthropological sense) of the peoples inhabiting Britain as well as with the environment they transformed, exploited, abused, and cherished.

Contents:

An outline update xi

Nature and culture in the last 10,000 years 3

Links between economy and environment 14

Committed history? 17

The organisation of the material 18

Chapter 2 Hunter-gatherers and fisherfolk: 10,000 to 5000 bp 23

Introduction: the beginning 23

The current interglacial 23

People and cultures 31

Environment and culture 32

The possible role of humans 42

A summary of environmental change involving humans 45

Into the agricultural era 48

Chapter 3 Shafts of sunlight: agriculturalists 51

Introduction: a very long duration 51

Atmospheric changes: the climate 52

Cultivated land and grasslands 53

Relations with the woodlands 58

The creation of new landforms 61

Heaths and moorlands 61

Industries 62

Sacred space 64

The social context 65

Chapter 4 Closed and open systems, ad 550 to ad 1700 69

Atmospheric changes: the climate 69

Landform change 70

Agriculture and grasslands 71

Heaths, moors and mountains 87

Woods and forests 92

Fresh water and fresh-water wetlands 100

Rural settlement 102

Urban settlement 102

Industry 105

Pleasure and the environment 109

Energy 113

Sacred space 114

Social context 115

Connections: at home and abroad 117

Sensibilities and attitudes to environment 118

Chapter 5 Building Jerusalem: the eighteenth century 120

The atmosphere 120

Woods and forests 121

Agriculture and grasslands 123

Heaths, moors and mountains 130

Sensibilities and attitudes to environment 132

Fresh water and fresh-water wetlands 132

Rural settlement 133

Urban settlement 135

Industry 135

Energy 140

The rich and their pleasure 141

Sacred space 143

The extension of the economy 144

A century's trends 145

Chapter 6 Industrial growth: material empires, 1800-1914 148

The atmosphere 150

Landforms 152

Woods and forests 152

Agriculture 153

Heaths, moors and mountains 155

Fresh water and fresh-water wetlands 160

Fishing and whaling 162

Energy 164

Industry 167

Urban settlement 172

Rural settlement 175

Leisure and pleasure 176

Sacred space 179

Wildlife and its protection 179

International linkages 180

Sensibilities and attitudes to environment 182

A summary 189

Chapter 7 'A fit country for heroes', 1914-50 192

Climate 194

Landforms 194

Woods and forests 198

Agriculture and grasslands 202

Heaths, moors and mountains 209

Fresh water and fresh-water wetlands 211

Industry and wastes 212

Urban settlement 216

Rural settlement 217

Military lands 218

The coasts 218

Fishing and whaling 220

Energy 223

Environmental protection and conservation 225

Specialised leisure 228

Sacred space 228

Administration and planning 229

Sensibilities and attitudes to environment 230

The 1950s: legacies and foreshadowings 234

Chapter 8 A post-industrial world, 1950 to the present 237

Introduction: millennium fever 237

Atmosphere and climate 239

Landforms 243

Fresh water 246

Forestry and woodlands 251

Agriculture 258

Sacred space 270

Fresh-water wetlands 272

Heaths, moors and other commons 273

Military lands 283

Conservation and landscape protection 284

Rural settlement: the rural economy 291

The urban-industrial environment 292

Land use: the overall picture 297

Leisure and environment 299

Coasts 301

Fisheries in the post-industrial world 304

Energy 310

Population trends 315

Administration 318

The international scene 319

Sensibilities and attitudes to environment 320

Contradictions of the time 323

Chapter 9 Experience and meaning 325

Introduction: many pasts 325

Critical periods 325

Cultural context 327

Pathways 331

Appendix 1 The changing environment from the air 342.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

074861284X

0748612831

OCLC:

59544396