American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.90 (819 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1439193584 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 416 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-09-04 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Audacious in its four-hundred-year scope, authoritative in its detail, and elegant in its execution, American Canopy is perfect for history buffs and nature lovers alike and announces Eric Rutkow as a major new author of popular history.. Rutkow also explains how trees were of deep interest to such figures as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Teddy Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt, who oversaw the planting of some three billion trees nationally in his time as president. Never before has anyone treated our country’s trees and forests as the subject of a broad historical study, and the result is an accessible, informative, and thoroughly entertaining read. This fascinating and groundbreaking work tells the remarkable story of the relationship between Americans and their trees across the entire span of our nation’s history.Eric Rutkow’s “deeply fascinating” (The Boston Globe) work shows how trees were essential to the early years of the republic and indivisible from the country’s rise as both an empire and a civilization. Among American Canopy’s many captivating stories: the Liberty Trees, where colonists gathered to plot rebellion against the British; Henry David Thoreau’s famous retreat into the woods; the creation of New York City’s Central Park; the great fire of 1871 that killed a thousand people in the lumber town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin; the fevered attempts to
. Eric Rutkow,a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, has worked as a lawyer on environmental issues. He splits his time between New York and New Haven, Connecticut, where he is pursuing a doctorate in American history at Yale. American Canopy is his first book
Neurosci Guy said Educational and entertaining from start to finish. Trees have played such a fundamental role in American history, from the colonial era to the modern day, that this was a story just waiting to be told. Rutlow is a gifted young historian, and his artful storytelling and compelling narrative made this a delightful read that I couldn't lay down. I gained a deeper understanding of how our. Don R. said Four Stars. Interesting book, American history from a unique perspective.. Reading this book probably will change the way you view trees R. M. Peterson What single factor most defined the United States, made the country what it is today? Its political philosophy and governmental structure? Its melting pot? The frontier? Slavery? In AMERICAN CANOPY Eric Rutkow proposes a factor that no one else has: trees.The thesis of AMERICAN CANOPY is that the relationship with trees "has been one
“A beautifully written, devilishly original piece of work.” (David Oshinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Polio: An American Story)"An even-handed and comprehensive history that could not be more relevantThe woods, Rutkow’s history reminds us again and again, are essential to our humanity." (Business Week)“Rutkow has cut through America’s use and love of trees to reveal the rings of our nation’s history and the people who have helped shape it.” (San Diego Union Tribune)