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Alfred Crosby almost alone redirected the attention of historians to ecological issues that were important precisely because they were global. In doing so, he answered those who believed that world history had become impossible as a consequence of the post-war proliferation of new historical specialities, including not only ecological history but also new social histories, areas studies, histories of mentalities and popular cultures, and studies of minorities, majorities, and ethnic groups. In the introduction to this volume, Professor Crosby recounts an intellectual path to ecological history that might stand as a rationale for world history in general. He simply decided to study the most pervasive and important aspects of human experience. By focusing on human universals like death and disease, his studies highlight the epidemic rather than the epiphenomenal.
Sommario
Foreword by Kevin Reilly vii Introduction: Nerds versus Twits 1 The Columbian Voyages, the Columbian Exchange, and Their Historians. 2 Ecological Imperialism: The Overseas Migration of Western Europeans as a Biological Phenomenon 3 The Biological Metamorphosis of the Americas 4 The British Empire as a Product of Continental Drift 5 Infectious Disease and the Demography of the Atlantic Peoples 6 Virgin Soil Epidemics as a Factor in the Aboriginal Depopulation of America 7 "God ... Would Destroy Them, and Give Their Country to Another People ... " 8 Hawaiian Depopulation as a Model for the Amerindian Experience 9 The Demographic Effect of American Crops in Europe 10 Demography, Maize, Land, and the American Character 11 Reassessing 1418, 12 Life (with All Its Problems) in Space
Info autore
Alfred W. Crosby is professor of American studies at the University of Texas, Austin. He was educated at Harvard and Boston universities. Professor Crosby specializes in environmental and ecological history and in historical epidemiology. Among his many publications are the books America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 (1989); Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900- 1900 (1986); and The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (1972).
Riassunto
Alfred Crosby almost alone redirected the attention of historians to ecological issues that were important precisely because they were global. By focusing on human universals like death and disease, his studies highlight the epidemic rather than the epiphenomenal.
