Description
The Subterrranean Forest studies the historical transition from the agrarian solar energy regime to the use of fossil energy, which has fuelled the industrial transformation of the last 200 years. The author argues that the analysis of historical energy systems provides an explanation for the basic patterns of different social formations. It is the availability of free energy that defines the framework within which socio-metabolic processes can take place. This thesis explains why the industrial revolution started in Britain, where coal was readily available and firewood already depleted or difficult to transport, whereas Germany, with its huge forests next to rivers, was much later. This landmark text was originally published in German in 1982 and was thoroughly revised and updated for the White Horse Press in 2001.
Now also available as an ebook.
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Rights Information
all available except German
Reviews
SELECTED REVIEWS OF 2001 WHITE HORSE PRESS EDITION
‘If anyone is still wondering what environmental history has to offer, this is a book they should read’. Paul Brassley in Environment and History
‘Sieferle’s account of this transition, its preconditions and its lasting consequences, is an excellent contribution to the still inexplicably sparse literature on energy in human history: well informed, well written, revealing in many ways’. Vaclav Smil in Journal of Economic History
‘An engaging source for anyone grappling with the history of the Industrial Revolution’. Fredric Quivik in Technology and Culture
Author Biography
Rolf Peter Sieferle is Professor of History at the University of St Gallen in Switzerland. His other Publications include Fortschrittsfeinde? (1984), Die Krise der menschlichen Natur (1989), Bevoelkerungswachtum und Naturhaushalt (1990), Die konservative Revolution (1995), Rueckblick auf die Natur (1997).
Bibliographic Information
- Publisher The White Horse Press
- Publication Date January 2010
- ISBN/Identifier 9781874267539
- Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
- FormatPaperback
- Primary Price 19.50 GBP
- Pages240
- ReadershipProfessional and Scholarly
- Publish StatusPublished
- Dimensions9x6 inches
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