No Wood, No Kingdom: Political Ecology in the English Atlantic

During early modern England, wood scarcity was a major concern, leading to debates and proposals for solutions. No Wood, No Kingdom explores how social conflict, information difficulties, and competing visions shaped land use, forestry, and the economic vision of England's earliest colonies. It demonstrates that wood scarcity was not due to absolute supply and demand but rather resulted from social conflict over resource rights, inaccurate information, and competing visions for trade, forestry, and the English landscape. The book also shows that colonies competed with domestic enterprises rather than supplanting them and experimented with different approaches to colonial woods and trees, including efforts to manage them as long-term resources.

Format: Hardback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 01 May 2021
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

In early modern England, the scarcity of wood was a pervasive concern that echoed across various social strata. Royal officials, artisans, and ordinary citizens expressed their anxieties through laws, petitions, and pamphlets, engaging in lively debates about the severity of the issue, speculating on its origins, and proposing solutions. This exploration delves into these diverse attempts to comprehend the scarcity problem and highlights how these ideas shaped land use, forestry, and the economic vision of England's earliest colonies.

Popular narratives often posit that deforestation fueled English colonial expansion. However, Keith Pluymers challenges this notion by demonstrating that wood scarcity in England was not solely a matter of absolute supply and demand but rather a result of complex social conflicts over the right to define and regulate resources. Obtaining accurate information and navigating competing visions for trade, forestry, and the English landscape further compounded the challenges. Domestic scarcity claims did encourage the development of wood-dependent enterprises in the colonies, but in practice, colonies often competed with domestic enterprises rather than supplanting them.

A closer examination of colonial governments and the actions of individual landholders in Ireland, Virginia, Bermuda, and Barbados reveals a rich tapestry of approaches to colonial woods and trees. Colonists experimented with diverse strategies, ranging from managing them as long-term resources to pursuing short-term gains. These experiments, while complex and multifaceted, nonetheless brought about significant transformations to the land.

No Wood, No Kingdom delves into the endeavors to consolidate wood resources across the Atlantic basin as a means to support an English empire. However, this pursuit was fraught with deep-seated conflicts and confusion that largely hindered these plans. The book speaks to historians of early modern Europe, early America, and the Atlantic World, offering valuable insights into early modern resource management and the complex interplay between social, economic, and environmental factors in shaping colonial societies.

Weight: 630g
Dimension: 160 x 238 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780812253078