Traces the impact of fire in Australia, showing that it has been a powerful environmental determinant, shaping both social and natural histories. Discusses fire rituals and legends of old Australia, Aboriginal farming methods using fire, fire use by Europeans, and modern developments. First published in 1991 by Henry Holt and Company, New York, this edition contains a new preface. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Recenzijas
"This is a phenomenal piece of research and writing, an epic that moves from prehistoric geology to contemporary firefighting theory and draws on an array of natural and social sciences to do so. This is geographical writing at its best and most exhaustive and will intrigue anyone interested in Australia, the environment or human civilization."
(San Francisco Chronicle) "Mr. Pyne, showing what a historian deeply schooled in environmental science can contribute to our awareness of nature and culture, has produced a provocative work that is a major contribution to the literature of environmental studies."
(New York Times Book Review) "Stephen Pyne is a great storyteller, and here he weaves as fine a tale as one could imagine about a phenomenon as seemingly ordinary as fire."
(Natural History)
Papildus informācija
Aborigines and eucalyptuses in effect worked together to make Australia one of the premier firescapes of the planet. Even today the burning bush remains a perennial challenge on the vast island continent. -- William Cronon, from the Foreword
Foreword ix(4) William Cronon Preface to the 1998 Paperback Edition xiii(4) Preface to the Original Edition: Firestick History xvii(5) Map of Australia xxii(2) Map of Australias Vegetation xxiv Prologue: Dust to Dust 1(14) BOOK I: THE EUCALYPT 15(56)
1. The Universal Australian 15(11)
2. Unimaginable Freaks of Fire: Profile of a Pyrophyte 26(16)
3. Red Centre: Fire Regimes of Old Australia 42(15)
4. Land of Contrarities 57(14) BOOK II: THE ABORIGINE 71(82)
5. Flaming Front 71(14)
6. Firestick Farmer: Profile of a Pyrophile 85(20)
7. Fires of the Dreaming 105(16)
8. Smokes by Day, Fires by Night: Fire Regimes of Aboriginal Australia 121(15)
9. This Wonderful Depository of Fire 136(17) BOOK III: THE EUROPEAN 153(168)
10. Entwining Fire 153(30)
11. Reconnaissance by Fire: Education of a Pyrophile 183(16)
12. Red Steers and Green Pick 199(28)
13. Beyond the Black Stump 227(20)
14. Fire Conservancy 247(28)
15. Burning Off: Fire Provinces of European Australia 275(26)
16. When the Billy Boiled 301(20) BOOK IV: THE NEW AUSTRALIAN 321(89)
17. The Two Fires 321(17)
18. Antipodean Fire: The Australian Strategy 338(26)
19. Wild Bush, Urban Bush: Fire Regimes of New Australia 364(24)
20. Dieback 388(22) Epilogue: Ashes to Ashes 410(13) Notes 423(70) Bibliographic Essay 493(6) Index 499
Stephen J. Pyne is a professor in the Biology and Society Program at Arizona State Universty. He is the author of many books, including Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910 and Fire on the Rim: A Firefighter's Season at the Grand Canyon. Fire: A Brief History is the sixth volume in Pyne's Cycle of Fire, which also includes Vestal Fire, World Fire, Burning Bush, The Ice and Fire in America.
