Environmental History in Historical Perspective

Samuel P. Hays. Explorations in Environmental History. (Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998). Pp. xl, 584. $50.00 cl., $22.95 pb.

Char Miller and Hal Rothman, eds. Out of the Woods: Essays in Environmental History. (Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997). Pp. xvi, 368. $50.00 cl., $22.95 pb.

Joel A.Tarr, The Search for the Ultimate Sink: Urban Pollution in Historical Perspective. (Akron, Oh.: University of Akron Press, 1996). Pp. xlvii + 420. $49.95 cl., $24.95 pb.

Now well established, the field of environmental history was launched only in the early 1970s, and, despite much popular interest in environmental history, its precariousness as an academic enterprise continued for more than a decade. By the late 1990s, however, its professional association, the American Society for Environmental History, has grown to a sustainable size, the continuation of the journal Environmental History has been assured, and the quantity, inclusiveness, and expansiveness of published environmental history scholarship has become truly impressive. It is not surprising, then, that both scholars and publishers have become interested, nearly a quarter-century on, in reconsidering the seminal efforts of the pioneers of the field. All three of these books are products of this new interest in the roots of environmental history.

All three are collections of mostly previously published work in environmental history. Out of the Woods is a "best of" book, Char Miller and Hal Rothman having selected the chapters from the first nineteen volumes of Environmental History Review (which prior to 1990 was called Environmental Review and in 1996 became Environmental History). Since 1970, Joel A. Tarr has been the leading U.S. historian of the urban environment. In The Search for the Ultimate Sink: Urban Pollution in Historical Perspective, he has brought together fifteen of his major articles published from 1971 to 1996. Tarr is also the author of the foreword to Samuel Hays's own retrospective collection, Explorations in Environmental History. Hays is probably the preeminent historian of environmental politics in the twentieth century, with much of his scholarly impact accounted for by two earlier books, Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency (1958) and Beauty, Health, and Permanence (1987). Explorations in Environmental History is a collection of Hays's nineteen most significant essays written between 1976 and 1994, including four previously unpublished.

The Miller and Rothman book, consequently, is a creature different from the Tarr and Hays books. Its eighteen authors certainly give it an eclectic quality, which is part of its appeal. The Environmental History Review was always a journal central to the field and, consequently, Miller and Rothman were choosing from a wealth of outstanding work. Their stated aim was to bring together "articles that reflect the changing status of the field over two decades, its shifting emphases, issues, and perspectives" (xi). The result is both a historiography of the field and a collection of examples of outstanding history scholarship. Although the intent was not primarily to include articles of continuing importance to contemporary scholarship, some of the articles seem to be timeless with respect to the profound issues and questions they raise.

The book is organized in six parts, in apparently random order: ideas matter, place settings, green politics, urban fields, water works, and global village. The consistency of the quality of the articles indicates that the editors resisted the temptation to select weaker pieces just to have something from all of the major scholars in the field. Although many of the "big names" in environmental history are represented (including Tarr and Hays), many are not, and several deserving works by lesser-known scholars are included.

The book is not without its annoying deficiencies. Although it would make an outstanding supplement in environmental history courses, it doesn't stand alone because of the absence of a substantial introduction or any kind of interpretive, reflective, or summarizing conclusion. The book ought to be of interest to beginning historians and environmental policy scholars seeking...