Medieval Frontier: Culture and Ecology in Rijnland

Hardbound book fine. Dust jacket condition: near fine. Green dust jacket protected in mylar sleave; dark green cloth boards fine with bright silver titles at spine; sewn binding sound; pages and illustrations fine. 293 pages; 9.3 X 6.3 X 1; 1 lb. 13.5 oz. shipping weight. One might call this book a study in palaeo-geography or, as the series title indicates, a study in environmental history. TeBrake's object of study is Rijnland, a coastal area of the Netherlands, and a region constantly at war with the encroaching sea. The title Medieval Frontier refers to the time period under study, from the mid-tenth century to the mid-14th century. The volume recounts the region's efforts to deal with the sea level rise - perhaps the result of warming in the centuries preceding the Little Ice Age of the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. This is a fascinating study in light of recent climate change. Volume 7 of the Environmental History Series, Texas A & M University Press, edited by Martin V. Melosi

WILLIAM H. TEBRAKE received the A.B. degree from Calvin College, the M. A. from the University of Cincinnati, and the Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He specializes in the environmental and social history of pre-Modern Europe, on which he has published a number of articles. He is associate professor of history at the University of Maine at Orono.