Review: A Landscape History of New England

Abstract

A Landscape History of New England is an edited collection of 20 chapters that takes diverse perspectives on the idea of "landscape" going beyond just a physical space, to involving human interactions with the environment, and the social meanings constructed around it. Contributors come from a variety of academic disciplines, including geography, history, sociology and American Studies. The book's stated purposes are to give a historical overview of landscape change and perception from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, to provide an introduction to the study of past landscapes and the varied methodological approaches in doing so, and to give "an overview and an assessment of recent scholarship on the history of land use, landscape perceptions, and environmental change in New England" (p. 4). The essays collectively address these wide aims. All six New England states receive some attention, with chapters considering landscapes from the mountains, to urban environments, to forests and coastlines, and even the bottom of Boston Harbor.