Understanding the New England Landscape

Allport, Susan. Sermons in Stone: The Stone Walls of New England and New York.  New York : W.W. Norton & Co., 1990.

Conzen, Michael P., ed. The Making of the American Landscape.   Boston : Urwin Hyman, 1990.

A classic introduction to the varying ethnic, regional, and national landscapes of America.

Cronon, William. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England .  New York : Hill and Wang, 1983.

Foster and O'Keefe: "The contrast between Indian and colonial attitudes toward the land and the environment provides a contrast that this delightfully well-written volume uses to describe the historical changes in
the New England landscape."

Donahue, Brian. Reclaiming the Commons: Community Farms and Forests in a New England Town . New Haven : Yale University Press, 1999

Library Journal: "[Donahue's] ideas on how to and especially how not to go about community farming represent hard-won knowledge, and his suggestions on getting children involved as a way to connect with the land and with the community are especially poignant. The result is a lush and persuasive narrative that makes even lambing in the middle of a cold spring night seem charming. Highly recommended for all public and academic libraries."

Booklist: "Donahue combines social and natural history to examine how our culture and economy favor development and consumerism at the expense of the environment. . . . An engaging look at environment issues and what can be done beyond handwringing."

Foster Charles H.W., ed. Stepping Back to Look Forward: A History of the Massachusetts Forest . Petersham , Mass. : Harvard Forest., 1998.

Foster and O'Keefe: "Written to celebrate the centennial of the forests and parks system in Mass. , this multiauthor volume provides an overview of the ecological, economic, social , and educational history of forests in the Commonwealth."

Foster, David. Thoreau's Country: Journey Through a Transformed Landscape. Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 1999.

Foster and O'Keefe: "Insights into the conservation and ecology of the New England landscape based on an interpretation of its history, using as a source the journal writings of Henry David Thoreau."

Foster, David, and John O'Keefe. New England Forests Through Time: Insights from the Harvard Forest Dioramas. Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 2000.

Amazon Reviewer: "Imagine yourself transported back in time to an ancient forest in central New England prior to settlement. As in a time lapsed movie, the ecosystem is transformed before your eyes into a subsistence farm surrounded by forest, to one dominated by prosperous farms with only remnant
patches of forest dotting the land, to the forest reclaiming the abandoned farm landscape. This was part of an ubiquitous land use history that was replicated throughout much of New England . The history is superbly depicted in Foster's and O'Keefe's New England Forest Through Time. The narrative and photographs of the breath-taking dioramas capture the economic and natural forces that shaped the New England Landscape... This book is an excellent tool for natural resource managers and educators as well as the layman who
wants to know why there are apple trees, stone walls, cellar holes in the middle of the woods."

Jackson, John Brinkerhoff. Discovering the Vernacular Landscape. New Haven : Yale University Press, 1984.

John B. Jackson, a pioneer in the field of landscape studies, takes us on a tour of American landscapes past and present, showing how our surroundings reflect important changes in our culture.

Jorgensen, Neil. A Sierra Club Naturalist's Guide to Southern New England . San Francisco : Sierra Club Books, 1978.

Merchant, Carolyn. Ecological Revolutions: Nature, Gender and Science in New England . Chapel Hill : Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1989.

Foster and O'Keefe: "One of America¹s most perceptive environmental historians provides an intriguing discussion of cultural and ecological changes in the history of New England and identifies major Œrevolutions¹ in social and economic conditions that contribute to substantial changes in the state of the environment."

Schama, Simon. Landscape and Memory. Reprint Edition, New York : Vintage Books, 1996.

Amazon Description: Chosen by Time as "One of the Best Books of the Year, " Landscape and Memory is a bravura exploration of the ancient relationship between natural landscapes and the human imagination. Simon Schama excavates the layers of significance that human beings have imposed on forests, rivers, and mountains to create a triumphant work of history, naturalism, mythology, and art.

Stilgoe, John R. Common Landscape of America : 1580 to 1845 . New Haven : Yale University Press, 1982.

A classic introduction to reading the expression of human values in the shaping of the natural environment.

Watts , May, Theilgaard. Reading the Landscape of America . (Reprint Edition. New York : Nature Guild Publishers), 1957.

Publisher¹s description: ³¹There is good reading on the land, first-hand reading, involving no symbols. The records are written in forests, in fencerows, in bogs, in playgrounds, in pastures, in gardens, in canyons, in
tree rings. Interpreting this reading matter, in place, on the land, seeing living things in their total environment, is an adventure into the field that is called ecology."

So begins May Theilgaard Watts' preface to this classic work of natural history. In a series of essays about places across the United States , Watts explains basic concepts in ecology. She shows how to make sense of the landscape by interpreting the clues that reveal its history, natural and human. Her work encourages readers to look beyond the individual plant or animal to consider the complex interrelationships between organisms and their environment that shape the landscape. Generously illustrated with charts and line drawings."

Wessels, Tom. Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England . Woodstock , Vt : The Countryman Press, 1997.

Foster and O'Keefe: '"This book provides people who are interested in interpreting forest history on their woodland walks with a nice introduction to some of the cultural and biological clues frequently encountered in the New England countryside..."

Publisher¹s description: "A full and wholly original portrait of New England 's forests, tracing their evolution from pre-colonial days to the present through a study of the patterns we see today. Read this book, as
many fans have said, and no walk in the woods will ever be the same."

Whitney, Gordon. From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain: A History of Environmental Change in Temperate North America 1500-Present. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Amazon Book Description: "The Native American, the trapper, the farmer and the lumberman all benefited from the development of the American landscape following European settlement. The degree to which their activities altered the soil, the climate, the natural plant and animal communities, and the
water cycle is examined here."

Foster and O'Keefe: "The definitive environmental history of the northeastern United States ... describes the early forest vegetation and then documents its changes through the early 20th century and provides an ...
introduction to the scholarly methodology that is the toolbox for historical ecology."