This book is about how we have treated nature in some of the most valued landscapes in Europe. Combining social and cultural history with ecology and geography, T.C. Smout has written an environmental history that is both profound and accessible.The Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland, the Lake District and the northern moors and plains of England form a natural region. The crags, moorland, woods and wetlands have been both treasured for their beauty and biodiversity and reviled as unproductive deserts to be improved and reclaimed. The fields have been made more fertile for production and the...

The first modern history of Scottish woodlands explores the changing relationship between trees and people from the time of Scotland's first settlement, focusing on the period 1500 to 1920. Drawing on work in natural science, geography and history, as well as on the authors' own research, it presents an accessible and readable account that balances social, economic and environmental factors. Two opening chapters describe the early history of the woodlands. The book is then divided into chapters that consider traditional uses and management, the impact of outsiders on the pine woods and the...