A landscape history of New England /

These 21 essays by leading scholars on the landscape and history of New England are grouped under the themes "Landscape, Nature, and Regional Identity," "Forests and Mountains," "Rural Landscapes," "Coasts," and "Villages, Towns, and Cities." From the natural landscape and Native American presence on the land through the Colonial and industrial periods to the metropolitan landscapes of Boston and developing concerns with the effect of toxic chemicals on the landscape, this volume is wide-ranging in its coverage. Authors also consider class, ethnicity, and gender in this region of "conceptual fluid identity." Each section explores topics like landscape changes, tourism, leisure, historic preservation, and more. In comparison with other books on the New England landscape, such as Tom Wessel's Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England (1997) or the classic Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England (1983) by William Cronon, this volume is more varied, and more of the essays delve into the cultural and urban aspects of landscapes. The natural aspects of the New England landscape are addressed more in depth in Wessel and Cronon. For collections with a focus on New England and landscape history. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. L. M. Foster University of Montana - Helena