An Environmental History of the Civil War

De: Judkin Browning, Timothy Silver

Narrado por: Joe Barrett

This sweeping new history recognizes that the Civil War was not just a military conflict but also a moment of profound transformation in Americans' relationship to the natural world.

To be sure, environmental factors such as topography and weather powerfully shaped the outcomes of battles and campaigns, and the war could not have been fought without the horses, cattle, and other animals that were essential to both armies. But here Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver weave a far richer story, combining military and environmental history to forge a comprehensive new narrative of the war's significance and impact.

As they reveal, the conflict created a new disease environment by fostering the spread of microbes among vulnerable soldiers, civilians, and animals; led to large-scale modifications of the landscape across several states; sparked new thinking about the human relationship to the natural world; and demanded a reckoning with disability and death on an ecological scale. And as the guns fell silent, the change continued; Browning and Silver show how the war influenced the future of weather forecasting, veterinary medicine, the birth of the conservation movement, and the establishment of the first national parks.

©2020 The University of North Carolina Press (P)2020 Tantor

A must for any Civil War fan.

A very interesting look at the war and its lasting effects, outside of a military perspective.

Unique look at mostly neglected, but critical, factors of the Civil War

Discusses several facets of the Civil War I either didn’t know or didn’t know enough: how disease slowed the beginning of the war down, how floods and draught greatly affected the war in the far west, how one Union campaign was stopped by weather with results as catastrophic as a battle, and more. Well worth my time.

Engaging and unique view of Civil War.

Generally enlightening and well written, tale of how disease, flora, fauna and geography reciprocally interacted during the Civil War. Epilogue ties threads together well to underscore how war affected each of foregoing and human landscape for years to come.