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An Environmental History of the Civil War (Civil War America)
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About An Environmental History Of The Civil War
Product Description This sweeping new history recognizes that the Civil War was not just a military conflict but also a moment of profound transformation in Americans' relationship to the natural world. To be sure, environmental factors such as topography and weather powerfully shaped the outcomes of battles and campaigns, and the war could not have been fought without the horses, cattle, and other animals that were essential to both armies. But here Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver weave a far richer story, combining military and environmental history to forge a comprehensive new narrative of the war's significance and impact. As they reveal, the conflict created a new disease environment by fostering the spread of microbes among vulnerable soldiers, civilians, and animals; led to large-scale modifications of the landscape across several states; sparked new thinking about the human relationship to the natural world; and demanded a reckoning with disability and death on an ecological scale. And as the guns fell silent, the change continued; Browning and Silver show how the war influenced the future of weather forecasting, veterinary medicine, the birth of the conservation movement, and the establishment of the first national parks. In considering human efforts to find military and political advantage by reshaping the natural world, Browning and Silver show not only that the environment influenced the Civil War's outcome but also that the war was a watershed event in the history of the environment itself. Review For scholars of the Civil War, this book adds a fresh perspective, illustrating how ecology, nature, and weather had a striking and unpredictable effect upon military preparedness and the waging of war.-- Library Journal As evidenced in the book, Civil War environmental history continues to perform a valuable service through highlighting and deepening our knowledge and appreciation of the many connections between the natural world and the Civil War's military and home fronts. In this manner, Browning and Silver's synthesis convincingly treats the war as an 'ecological event' as well as a clash between armies and societies.-- Civil War Books and Authors Sweeping in breadth yet remarkably accessible, An Environmental History of the Civil War offers new insight into the intricate relationship between Civil War soldiers and their environment.-- Journal of the Civil War Era It is hard for this book review to do this book justice. Readers will not study or look at the battles of any war [again] without wanting to know more about the environmental impacts. The book is exceptionally well written.-- Military Review Just when you think the history of the Civil War has been done to death, some enterprising writer turns over a new line of inquiry into this singular American tragedy. In this case, it was Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver, Appalachian State University professors of military and environmental history, respectively, who joined forces to break new ground...Despite their keen eye on the science, the authors don't skimp on narrative, telling insightful, intriguing stories about how the environment's most basic elements could prove vexing for war planners." -- WNC Magazine In a briskly written text of fewer than 200 pages, [Browning and Silver] highlight the themes Civil War environmental historians have the unique ability to explore and make more relevant to our broader understanding of the conflict. . . . What they do accomplish is to enrich our understanding of the agency of microbes, animals, and landscape on the military history of the war.-- The Annals of Iowa The book excels at examining how the war created novel environments, such as the microbiomes of bodies and the clear-cut fields surrounding fortifications.-- Agricultural History A most excellent study of aspects of the war ignored in many accounts of the conflict.-- Michigan War Studies Review A compact, smartly illustrated
