John Perlin

This book is long and dense, but I continued to enjoy it because it was a well written history of Civilization the last 5 thousand years that showed with complete proof the role of Trees in civilizations rise and fall over that time. A refresher for all the World History classes I took with a nuance not covered in those courses - the major role of trees in thousands of years of mankind's history! This should be a primer for any history course for no textbook I ever read covered the affect trees/forests have had on culture, economies,politics, technology, demographics, or the general fate of people over time. And it shows how much continued influence they have on our fate with Climate Change including all the surrounding issues like species demise, diseases like Covid 19, etc. A must read for any educated citizen of the World.… (altro)

The book puts humankind's use (and misuse) of forests into historical perspective, illuminating patterns over thousands of years, and demonstrating again and again (and again and again and again) how we have soiled our own nest with a mixture of ignorance, greed, and outright stupidity. This doesn't make for particularly pleasant reading, but it is enormously informative and persuasive, and uncovers a lot of mostly hidden uses that trees are put to, as well as the ones that spring to most everyone's mind. I bought the Kindle version, and thus the many illustrations are less attractive than they would be in a real book--I just couldn't bring myself to buy a book about trees that was made with trees, and you can get a better look at the pictures on a tablet or PC if you want. I would say this is a must-read for anyone interested in forests, or human history.… (altro)

La destrucción de los bosques del mundo es uno de los principales problemas de nuestra época. El mundo pierde 11 millones de hectáreas de bosques cada año. Pero este libro no es únicamente una crónica de la deforestación. Expone la evolución de la civilización occidental a partir de un recurso, la madera, como principal combustible y material de construcción de las sociedades antiguas y examina el papel que la búsqueda de nuevas reservas madereras ha desempeñado a lo largo de la historia.
-Choice… (altro)