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In an epoch when environmental issues make the headlines, this is a work that goes beyond the everyday. Ecologies as diverse as the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean coast, the Negev desert and the former military bases of Vietnam, or the Namib desert and the east African savannah all have in common a long-time human presence and the many ways people have modified nature. With research covering countries from Asia, Africa, and Australia, the authors come together to ask how and why human impacts on nature have grown in scale and pace from a long pre-history.

The chapters in this volume illumine specific patterns and responses across time, going beyond an overt centring of the European experience. The tapestry of life and the human reshaping of environments evoke both concern and hope, making it vital to understand when, why, and how we came to this particular turn in the road. Eschewing easy labels and questioning eurocentrism in today’s climate vocabulary, this is a volume that will stimulate rethinking among scholars and citizens alike.

Contents: The Global Present and Long-Term Perspectives on Nature and History: An Introduction/Gunnel Cederlof and Mahesh Rangarajan. 1. Provincializing the Anthropocene: Eurocentrism in the Earth System/Kathleen D. Morrison. 2. Anthropogenic Landscapes of the Central Himalayas/Vasudha Pande. 3. Wild Children/Michael Adams. 4. A Historical Ecology of Cattle in Mozambique/Anneli Ekblom. 5. Wild Beasts in the City/Harini Nagendra. 6. History Eats Its Young: The Perils of Short-Termism in Understanding the Past/Sandra Swart. 7. Going, Going, Gone: A History of Israel’s Biodiversity/Alon Tal. 8. History and the Militarized Landscape: Long Historical and Broad Social Views/David Biggs. 9. ‘Natural’ No More? Delhi’s Yamuna River/Ravi Agarwal. 10. South Asia’s Coastal Frontiers/Sunil Amrith. 11. Narratives from Indian Seas: Marine Resource Use, Ecosystem Responses, and the Accidents of History/Rohan Arthur. 12. Expanding Nature Conservation: Considering Wide Landscapes and Deep Histories/T.R. Shankar Raman. Bibliography. Index.