The Third Dimension: A Comparative History of Mountains in the Modern Era

Mathieu, Jon

ISBN 10: 1874267677 / ISBN 13: 9781874267676

Published by The White Horse Press, 2011

About this Item

No jacket as issued. Minimal external wear. Text block mellowed. Translated by Katherine Brun. Inscribed on front endpaper "For Jack Ives / with admiration / Best wishes / Jon / Berne 26.11.2011." Glossy section of images. (x)194. Octavo.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1761564061968

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Third Dimension: A Comparative History of Mountains in the Modern Era
• Publisher: The White Horse Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1874267677
• ISBN 13: 9781874267676
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

A pioneering examination of the three-dimensionality of the earth from the perspective of history and the humanities. This book considers the variegated world of mountains and their development during the last 500 years. It takes as its starting point the United Nations environmental conference of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, where the mountains were officially recognised as a topic of the world community. Important precedents for this new agenda were built in the early modern period and in the nineteenth century, as European societies began to exceed their traditional limitations. The book begins with an investigation of this long-term process with respect to science, culture and politics, each of which has transformed our attitudes toward mountainous regions. It then takes up historical problems that have been debated in the latest research, placing them in a comparative framework. At the book's heart stands the question of whether and in what way the 'three-dimensional history' of mountain people may reveal distinctive forms of development.

About the Author

Jon Mathieu is professor of history at the University of Lucerne and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He was the founding director of the Instituto di Storia delle Alpi at the Universita della Svizzera italiana and has organised several international conferences about the history of mountains. In 2008 he received the King Albert I Mountain Award for his research.