Books & Profiles

Fault Lines: Earthquakes and Urbanism in Modern Italy

Earthquakes occur along fault lines, sometimes with disastrous effects. These disturbances can significantly influence urban development, as seen in the aftermath of two earthquakes in Italy. Fault Lines follows the history of these places before and after their destruction, explores plans and developments that preceded the disasters, and the urbanism that emerged from the ruins.

Creating Wilderness: A Transnational History of the Swiss National Park

The history of the Swiss National Park is told for the first time in Creating Wilderness. The deliberate reinterpretation of the American idea of the national park, as implemented in Yellowstone, was innovative and radical, but its consequences were not limited to Switzerland. The Swiss park became the prime example of a “scientific national park,” thereby influencing the course of national parks worldwide.

Managing the Unknown: Essays on Environmental Ignorance

Managing the Unknown offers essays that show that deficient knowledge is a far more pervasive challenge in resource history than conventional readings suggest. Furthermore, environmental ignorance does not inevitably shrink with the march of scientific progress. This volume combines insights from different continents as well as the seas in between and thus sketches outlines of an emerging global resource history.

The Nature of German Imperialism: Conservation and the Politics of Wildlife in Colonial East Africa

The Nature of German Imperialism: Conservation and the Politics of Wildlife in Colonial East Africa. Cover.

Gissibl, Bernhard. The Nature of German Imperialism: Conservation and the Politics of Wildlife in Colonial East Africa. New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2016.