New England Natives: A Celebration of People and Trees

by Sheila Connor

Book Overview

Taking us back to the birth of New England's forests, Sheila Connor shows us these trees evolving amidst a succession of human cultures, from the Archaic Indians who crafted canoes from white birch and snowshoes from ash, to the colonists who built ships of oak and pine, to the industrialists who laid railroad tracks on chestnut timber, to the tanners who used hemlock bark to treat the leather required to shoe the Union army. In this engaging narrative, cultural history affords insights into forestry, botany, horticulture, and ecology, which in turn illuminate the course of human conduct in a wooded land. Beautifully written and lavishly illustrated, this book will delight readers with a special interest in the trees of the region, as well as those who wonder what our American culture owes to nature.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674613511
• ISBN13: 9780674613515
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.5" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Excellent text that combines natural and social history

A truely wonderful read. This book goes through the history of New England and how the plants and natural resources of the area shaped the history of this region all the while using our Arnold Arboretum as the focal point and reference. There's too much information to call it a quick read, but it is very well organized and easy to read in that sense. I must read for plant and history buffs.