A Cultural History of the Environment

How have different cultures and societies over millennia re-shaped the planet to suit their needs and desires? Why and how have our relationships with the natural world become so much less sustainable over time?

In a work spanning 5,500 years, 60 experts explore the complexities of human-environment relationships since the emergence of the first civilizations. Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole and, to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six.

The six volumes cover: 1. The Classical Age; 2. The Age of Emperors; 3. The Oceanic Age; 4. The Little Ice Age; 5. The Age of Commodities; 6. The Age of Acceleration.

Themes and chapter titles are: earth; skies, climate and the atmosphere; work, energy, and power; water; forests; animals; cities and settlements; war; and disasters and resilience.

The page extent is 1,776 with 319 illustrations. Each volume opens with a series preface and a volume editor's introduction and closes with bibliography, notes on contributors and index.

The Cultural Histories Series
A Cultural History of the Environment is part of the Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available both as printed hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a one-off purchase and tangible reference for their shelves, or as part of a fully searchable digital library, updated twice a year and available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access. See www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com for further information or to access content.

• Publication date: 3 September 2026
• Dimensions: Height 252 mm; Width 178 mm; Thickness 108 mm
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Format: Multiple-component retail product
• ISBN-13: 9781472575937