A Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization [Paperback]

John Perlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1991

Chronicles the destruction of the world's forests as a result of overdependency on wood as a building and energy source, and points out the resultant declining soil productivity, flooding, and depletion of firewood supplies.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Perlin has accumulated what seems every reference to the use and misuse of forests in the period beginning with Gilgamesh and ending with the 1880 U.S. census. In between, he chronicles the deforestation of Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, the West Indies, and the United States by kings, warlords, and robber barons for purposes ranging from building navies to smelting iron to clearing land for cash crops. The research is exhaustive, but the book disappoints in two ways. First, the style is flat. All information is treated as equal in weight, without interpretation or expert opinion. This makes for heavy reading; the hundreds of subheadings in the text accentuate a sense of the book as a compilation, rather than a narrative. Second, given how deforestation has recently become a hot topic, one wishes for a connection to the present time, so that the information might be applied, rather than simply noted.
- Mark L. Shelton, Columbus, Ohio
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A delightful book...[It] is history in the etymological sense of the word--a story, told with grace, fluency, imagination, and humor...Perlin's central thesis is that wood has been both humanity's main material and main fuel, that its abundance made possible the rapid growth of successive civilizations, and that its exhaustion has been a major cause of their collapse...Out of this rich experience emerges a many-sided understanding of the causes of deforestation...[This book] deserves to become a classic. (Philip Stewart Forest and Conservation History )

An intriguing and informative account...This work not only captures the significant impact of wood on past and present civilizations but also provides special insight into world history and demography. The book is well written and well illustrated and has an extensive note section...It should have appeal to a broad readership. (Choice )

Outstanding...profusely documented and illustrated...with a story-teller's pace and ability to surprise...This book takes one of those bold imaginative sweeps through history that leave you full of excitement, as suddenly events seem to fall into a pattern for the first time. (British Broadcasting Corporation )

A Forest Journey is a timely and absorbing piece of history. Perlin marshals his authorities with skill...His story never flags. (Times Literary Supplement )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (March 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674308921
• ISBN-13: 978-0674308923
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,059,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rise and Fall of Trees­The Rise and Fall of Civilization, July 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization (Paperback)

A Forest Journey first reminds us of the absolute importance of wood to human history: how much we have depended on wood for our very existence:

"Throughout the ages trees have provided the material to make fire, the heat of which has allowed our species to reshape the earth for its use. With heat from wood fires, relatively cold climates became habitable; inedible grains were changed into a major source of food; clay could be converted into pottery, serving as useful containers to store goods; people could extract metal from stone, revolutionizing the implements used in agriculture, crafts, and warfare; the builders could make durable construction materials such as brick, cement, lime, plaster, and tile for housing and storage facilities....

"Transportation would have been unthinkable without wood. Until the nineteenth century every ship, from Bronze Age coaster to the frigate, was built with timber. Every cart, chariot, and wagon was also made primarily of wood. Early steamboats and railroad locomotives in the United States used wood as their fuel...

"Wood was also used for the beams that propped up mine shafts and formed supports for every type of building. Water wheels and windmills ­ the major means of mechanical power before electricity was harnessed ­ were built of wood. The peasant could not farm without wooden tool handles or wood plows; the soldier could not throw his spear or shoot his arrows without their wooden shafts, or hold his gun without its wooden stock. What would the archer have done lacking wood for his bow; the brewer and vintner, without wood for their barrels and casks; or the woolen industry, without wood for its looms?"

Perlin then thoroughly documents how all past nations declined once their forests were depleted. Today, with the world's forests in jeopardy, A Forest Journey provides much needed information that can help us avoid another needless repetition of history.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important and monumental history of fuel and the tragedy of the commons, January 14, 2006

By 

Simcha F. Udwin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization (Paperback)

This is one of the most important books I have ever read.

The relevance for our times of this highly engaging history of how the earliest civilizations to late 19th-century America have exploited wood (primarily as fuel, then as building material) and cleared forests cannot be overstated. Again and again, Perlin shows that the tragedy of the commons repeats itself throughout the patterns of human history, and the cycle has continued to the present day when we have the choice to break it by developing renewable, clean energy.

Beginning with the Mesopotamians, and continuing unabated to the present day, civilizations have access to forests previously admired and considered sacred. Greed for economic gain and/or military power, not the necessities of life (for which the forests amply provide) motivates Man to cut down forests at an increasingly alarming pace, as everyone wants to get in on the profits. Enormous quantities of wood are often cut down to produce a small quantum of finished products, such as a few kilograms of iron or refined sugar. The exploitation of forests is almost completely unregulated until it is too late for governments to do much about it. Often governments themselves dismiss or respond insufficiently to concerns by educated citizens, who warn of economic and ecological devastation if the free-for-all logging continues. And often this is because government members are well-placed to make personal profits from the wood/fuel trade. The individual cutters don't think to replant what they have taken, or even to spare saplings and young trees - why, when there's so much of it for oneself? Within several hundred years, there is little or no wood left (the latter situation was more common). The civilization declines for environmental devastation (such as large-scale erosion) and lack of fuel (as they are no longer able to compete with other civilizations and their militaries who still have access to wood, and there is little or no wood left for basic necessities such as heating and cooking). We see that the only civilizations which have exploited wood on a large scale and yet escaped this cycle were the modern-day civilizations that began to rely on coal and other polluting fuels, such as Industrial Revolution-era Britain, and eventually the United States of America.

The book goes into far more detail than this, crammed with information on the key role wood has played in wars, alliances, the building of civilizations, the power of civilizations and, again, their decline.

I found this book fascinating and read it from cover to cover. Its relevance for today is in showing us that fuel shortage problems are nothing new, and that the survival of civilizations has always depended on fuel not running out, and likely always will, for as long as we aspire to live beyond the bare necessities of life. Our present-day civilizations are no exception, but as we all know, the human population and therefore the human need is much higher than it ever has been before, and many of us are not aware of the ecological implications of our lifestyles, as we are so far removed from the natural ecology in cities. But we can make a difference before it is too late. Not only is an awareness of history a wake-up call if we choose to educate ourselves, which would encourage us to live more wisely in taking care of the environment around us, but environmentally-friendly fuel technologies are emerging for us to live at an even higher level of comfort and health than ever before.

The author, along with his Nobel-prize winning collaborators at UCSB, Drs. Walter Kohn and Alan Heeger, are avid researchers and promoters of solar and other renewable energy sources: watch this space! The author is also affiliated with a great website promoting solar energy, explaining solar technology and delving into some of the history of solar energy use (which goes back to the time of the ancient Greeks!): www.californiasolarcenter.org.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. We all live in a world which continues to be so unwisely exploited on our behalf that it could mean the decline of us all - this book is therefore essential reading for every single person in our time.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trees' Most Famous Fruit ­ Wood, June 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization (Paperback)

A Forest Journey should be required reading in every school. It thoroughly documents the absolute importance of wood to human history and how all nations declined once their forests were depleted. In his introduction, John Perlin reminds us of something taken for granted: the importance of wood to our very existence...At a time when we have lost touch with the basis of much that makes us human, this book can help us avoid the downfalls suffered by nations that have gone before us. As Lily Tomlin supposedly said, "If we would just pay attention, history wouldn't have to keep repeating itself."