Customer Reviews

Trees and Timber in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Oxford University Press Academ)

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This book is MARVELOUS! It is almost the only book on Ancient Tree usage, it is the only one I know of, but his bibliography gives a few books that I've not seen nor read. THis book covers all the ancient Mediterranean world, from Lebannon to Cyprus to Greece. He actually wrote this book over a span of nearly 40 or so years, so it is very well written. Obviously not the sort of book that everyone may think is interesting, but it is and it is because Mr. Meiggs is a very good writer as well as scholar. If you can get ahold of this book it is worth the read.

What happened to the Cedars of Lebanon? Long out of print, and now priced not to move, Meiggs' "Trees and Timber" is virtually the only book about deforestation in the cradle of western history. Thankfully, it is also a memorable read. Meiggs fingers a surprising villain: the nineteenth century. Most historic stands of trees survived quite nicely until then, simply because they were inaccessible. Railroads doomed much that was green. Calabrian peasants sold their entire forest patrimony to large German companies that cleared everything to the last twig. Then their goats moved in, munching every new shoot and blocking reforestation--to this day. And the famous cedars? The only stand of significance is protected by Maronite Christian monks; otherwise, forget them too. Anyone concerned about deforestation must read this book.