The Nature of Mediterranean Europe: An Ecological History

Mediterranean Europe is often interpreted as a "Lost Eden"-once verdant and fertile but progressively degraded and desertified by the mismanagement of successive human civilizations. The authors of this engaging book challenge such a view. They find that the aridity and barrenness of the region today is not abnormal in terms of its historic and prehistoric past, and they identify the real threats to Mediterranean landscapes in the immediate future.