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The French countryside is as beloved by the many millions of tourists who visit it each year as it is of French people themselves. But it has not always looked like it does today. An Environmental History of France instead presents the countryside in which people live and work and through which they travel as a human creation across 250 years of economic and cultural change, war and revolution. It is a book about the 'making' of the French landscape and an engrossing story linking human geography, history, agriculture and culture.
Showing an awareness of the origins and nature of current ecological and social challenges, Peter McPhee uses a blend of environmental and cultural approaches to paint a vivid picture of rural France's modern history. From the aristocratic control of agrarian resources in the 1770s, to widespread mechanisation in the 19th century, through to the impact of the World Wars and an intriguing discussion about the uncertain future of French rural communities, McPhee provides a nuanced, detailed and absorbing account of a distinctive version of France that is essential to the country's identity.
List of Plates
List of Figures
List of Maps
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Pre-industrial Landscape of the 1770s
2. The Environmental Crisis of the French Revolution, 1789-1799
3. 'Criss-crossing the Kingdom', 1800-1850
4. 'Many conquests to make', 1850-1880
5. 'A landscape worthy of being preserved', 1880-1914
6. 'Corpses of trees covering the corpses of men', 1914-50
7. Making the Contemporary Landscape, 1950-2000
8. Living the Anthropocene, 2000-2020
Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index
Peter McPhee is Honorary Professorial Fellow at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He has published widely on the history of modern France, including: A Social History of France 1789-1914 (2004); Robespierre: a Revolutionary Life (2012); and Liberty or Death: The French Revolution 1789-1799 (2016). Professor McPhee was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1997 and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2003. Earlier that year he had received the Centenary Medal for services to Australian education. In 2012, McPhee was made a Member of the Order of Australia.
"In this masterful overview of history and the French landscape, Peter McPhee reveals the complex interconnections between nature, agriculture, political events, and climate change. It is a powerful illustration of the pressing need for governments to intervene to protect both the natural landscape and the environment."
– Philip Dwyer, Professor, University of Newcastle, Australia
"Magisterial in scope and insight, An Environmental History of France is a thrilling successor to Fernand Braudel's illustrious Identity of France. The culmination of a long career spent exploring France's history from the ground up, the book presents the country's most dramatic moments of ecological change through Prof. McPhee's signature blend of engaging detail and lucid analysis."
– Kieko Matteson, Associate Professor, University of Hawai'i, USA
"This original book enables us to see the landscape of France with new eyes, revealing its hidden history. McPhee shows us how past mingles with present to shape the French countryside."
– Marisa Linton, Professor Emerita in History, Kingston University, UK
"Remarkable in its breadth and historical depth, McPhee's book explores changes in the French landscape over the past 250 years, while deftly assessing the ways in which landscapes in different parts of the country were invested with contested symbolic meanings by those who inhabited it. With his vast and intimate knowledge of French history and topography, there is no historian who could be a better guide on this fascinating journey to discover how the wetlands, hillsides, vineyards and forests of France came to be what they are today."
– Caroline Ford, Professor of History, University of California, USA
