Deforesting the Earth; From Prehistory to Global Crisis by Michael Williams.

$70, University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Michael Williams has assembled a remarkable history of how human deforestation of the world over a 10,000-year period has transformed societies and landscapes everywhere. It is unquestionably a monumental achievement, even though the author says it "was written in the old-fashioned way... by a lone scholar trying to make sense of an enormous literature." The book, he claims, "is not a history of forests or forestry." It is much more, in that Williams has provided, in his words, the "precise social, economic and intellectual context" essential to understanding how the clearing of the world's forests was inextricably linked to the society of the age in which it occurred.

The book is superbly crafted, well organized, and beautifully written, no small task in a 700-page book. The text is supported with 200 illustrations, tables, and maps, and upwards of 2,000 scholarly notes and references. The bibliography alone is 80 pages long. While the book is packed with quantitative and historical data, it is not overpowered by purely objective information. Williams supports his thesis of the need for social context, skillfully weaving examples of the impacts of folklore, tradition, and religion with the hard facts that detail the extent of deforestation in each historical period.

Williams makes it clear that he has not attempted to propose "solutions for environmental degradation," but rather to help the reader make sense of the momentous change that has taken place in the world's forests. The book, he states, "is an invitation for reflection, not a prescription for action. That I leave to others." He warns, however, that deforestation is not just an economic issue: It is also a matter of humanitarian concerns and long-term environmental ethics." He concludes that unless forests are either regarded as 'sacred' in some way.... or bought and conserved, sustainability will continue to diminish."