Civilizations

FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO, Felipe

ISBN 10: 1552631656 / ISBN 13: 9781552631652

Published by Key Porter Books, Toronto, Canada, 2000

About this Item

Civilizations is a radical cultural history of mankind's relationship with nature, which advances a new understanding of what it means to be civilisedxx, 636 pages, [24] pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm. An 'as new' copy - bright, fresh and unmarked in a similar unclipped dustjacket. A thick, heavy book that will attract extra postage. NB - Postal Rates shown by ABE are often incorrect and are vague estimates NOT guaranteed rates. We use Canada Post, the United States Postal Service and Asendia and try to offer very competitive postal charges - based on actual costs, no overcharging. Images are available. Shipped well packed. USA postage is usually $6.90 - $9.00 unless extra heavy/large. Canadian postage varies considerably depending on weight and destination. Postage to anywhere within Canada, can now be a maximum of US$16.00 for weights , including more than one book - up to 5kg total fitting the Flat Rate Box- boxed, insured, trackable and faster than regular parcels. Less will always be charged if rates indicate. NOW available - lower Trans-Canada rates for many major markets, and, new, considerably lower rates for Overseas destinations.

Seller Inventory # 057004

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Civilizations
• Publisher: Key Porter Books, Toronto, Canada
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1552631656
• ISBN 13: 9781552631652
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Canadian Edition.
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • Natural History, Outdoors, Environment
  • History - General

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Review

"Civilization" is a tricky term, one that means many things to many people. For some, it denotes great buildings, canals, codes of law; for others, it offers a contrast between one group and another, with the advantage always going to the more "civilized" bunch against the "barbaric," "savage," or "primitive."

All such distinctions, writes Oxford University historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto, are arbitrary and laden with subjective value; they speak to unscientific notions of progress, to hidden agendas. What matters, he continues, is the extent to which a culture has developed means to separate itself from nature: "Civilization makes its own habitat. It is civilized in direct proportion to its distance, its difference from the unmodified natural environment." A culture such as the ancient Han Chinese, the medieval highland Maya, or the Renaissance Venetian, then, is highly civilized inasmuch as its members dammed and diverted rivers, drained lakes, stripped forests, and built monumental structures to celebrate their achievements; people content or resigned to "live off the product and inhabit the spaces nature gives them" are markedly less so by virtue of that accommodation.

No culture, Fernández-Armesto writes, is inherently exempt from becoming civilized; nor, he adds, does "civilized" equate to "good." In exploring history as a branch of historical ecology, he sometimes abandons his thesis, intriguing and provocative as it is, to engage in a wide-ranging survey of the world past reminiscent of (but much better-written than) Toynbee and Durant, touching on the ancient Greeks here, the herding peoples of the African savanna and Central Asia there, the Moundbuilders of prehistoric North America and the hunting peoples of the Arctic there. Unlike many standard textbooks, his narrative manages to offer something new wherever he turns. Allusive and learned, his book repays close reading--and should inspire plenty of argument along the way. -- Gregory McNamee