Reviews

"Karl Appuhn’s study of Venetian efforts to control and manage their forests is a fascinating case study in the problems and politics of resource management. By carefully tracing the evolution of Venice’s attempts to control, harvest, and replenish its forests, Appuhn reconstructs a world of experts, bureaucrats, shipbuilders, and rural villagers who all recognized how vital a commodity trees were to an early modern state. An excellent and stimulating contribution to early environmental history."

"An extraordinary book that offers a fresh perspective to see Venice anew in both its materialist and ideological manifestations. Beyond Venice, it challenges readers to rethink a number of issues of broad interest to early modern history in general: state bureaucracies and economy, the production and reproduction of knowledge, and the relationship between humans and nature in theory and practice."

"Takes environmental history into the streets and countryside of the Renaissance city-state. Appuhn brilliantly reveals how Venetian political anxieties yielded a remarkable system of forest conservation to promote civic virtue and regional governance. In the interplay between Venice’s crowded lagoons and sylvan hillsides, he overturns the old story of European scientific rationalism as the death of nature. An original and important work."

"A useful work for upper-level students doing in-depth research."

"The work of Karl Appuhn, based on extensive archival research and rich technical insights, offers a major study devoted to the social, economic, administrative, and political aspects of Venetian forest management."

"Magisterial."

"A wonderful study of Venetian politics, natural knowledge, resource management, and bureaucratic development."

"With this splendid and painstakingly researched volume, Appuhn is sure to inspire others to the view that nature is to be honored and respected, managed if necessary, but not merely there for human taking."

"A must-have. Richly illustrated, highly readable, and filled with fascinating detail, this book should also enjoy a far wider readership among Pacific, colonial, and natural historians alike."

"Appuhn blazes a trail where others may very usefully follow."

"This remarkable book contains many fascinating details."