{"product_id":"retreat-of-the-elephants-an-environmental-history-of-china","title":"Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTitle: \u003c\/b\u003eRetreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor: \u003c\/b\u003eMark Elvin\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN: \u003c\/b\u003e0300101112\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/b\u003eYale University Press\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished: \u003c\/b\u003e2004\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding: \u003c\/b\u003eHardcover\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage: \u003c\/b\u003eEnglish\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEdition: \u003c\/b\u003eFirst Edition\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of Pages: \u003c\/b\u003e592\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Note: \u003c\/b\u003eClean, unmarked copy with some edge wear. Good binding. Dust jacket included if issued with one. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher Description: \u003c\/b\u003eThis is the first environmental history of China during the three thousand years for which there are written records. It is also a treasure trove of literary, political, aesthetic, scientific, and religious sources, that allow the reader direct access to the views and feelings of the Chinese people towards their environment and their landscape. Elvin chronicles the spread of the Chinese style of farming that eliminated the habitat of the elephants that populated the country alongside much of its original wildlife; the destruction of most of the forests; the impact of war on the environmental transformation of the landscape; and the reengineering of the countryside through water-control systems, some of gigantic size. He documents the histories of three contrasting localities within China to show how ecological dynamics defined the lives of the inhabitants. And he shows that China in the eighteenth century, on the eve of the modern era, was probably more environmentally degraded than northwestern Europe around this time. Indispensable for its new perspective on long-term Chinese history and its explanation of the roots of China's present-day environmental crisis, this book opens a d\u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"Yale University Press","offers":[{"title":"Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China | Mark Elvin | Hardcover | 0300101112 | Used: Very Good | Back Stacks B 1777650","offer_id":49765890162840,"sku":"1777650","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0492\/1609\/4360\/files\/41ya1AH2KzL.jpg?v=1787971542","url":"https:\/\/roundaboutbookstore.com\/products\/retreat-of-the-elephants-an-environmental-history-of-china","provider":"Roundabout Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}