A New Face on the Countryside

by Timothy Silver

In this book, Timothy Silver traces the effects of English settlement on South Atlantic ecology, showing how all three cultures--Indian, European, and African--interacted with and were, in turn, affected by, their changing environment. In assessing such ecological changes, Silver pays particular attention to regional variations, explaining how local geography and settlement patterns influenced the environment. And while his focus is the English South, Silver also shows us how economic and ecological developments in Europe, the Caribbean, and elsewhere frequently dictated how South Atlantic colonists used their land. Consequently, his book provides an engaging and detailed look at the complex relationships among humans, plants, and animals in a unique and diverse region of North America.

Genres: History

218 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 1990

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed and interesting (to some) historical survey of the way that human cultures have interacted with the non-human environment in the American Southeast, how they've shaped it and been shaped by it, and how different human cultures have affected each other. I picked up this book as I prepared to move to South Carolina because I wanted to get a bit of understanding as to how the land I was moving to ended up being how it was, and I feel pretty satisfied that this was the right place to start - though one of my clearest conclusions from reading this is that the Southeast is a very diverse area and I need to narrow my focus in my next exploration into this topic.

In my view, Silver hamstrings himself a bit by intentionally avoiding reflecting on past actions with modern (or are we post- or post-post-modern?) sensibilities. Compared to more modern works that cover similar ground, he comes off as pretty generous to the European settlers and capitalism. Now, normally I like authors who are generous towards their subjects, especially when they had frames of reference so different from ours; but sometimes, a quick affirmation that, yes, slavery was an inexcusable evil, as was the treatment of indigenous peoples by the European colonizers, can have a grounding effect. This generosity has its place, certainly, and I appreciated how Silver shifted blame off of individuals as if it is in any way fair to expect them to have some stroke of inspiration that awakens them to the evil their whole society embraced. But perhaps he pulled his punches a bit too much.

4/5, and a big ol' recommend.

Wear a mask,
Sam

[Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gets kind of pedantic about a few things, especially trees for a few pages, but on the whole is a great insight to relationships between European colonists, Native Americans, and slaves.

[Kyle Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the English Colonial South. Roaming cattle, Indian agriculture, loblolly pines, mosquitoes, forestry, floodings, deforestation, globalization...all of the important backbones to how the world was shaped. This is all the stuff they didn't talk about in school Worth a read, friends.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the change humans wrought to the southern American states prior to the revolution. It is very readable. The subject matter is a little specialized but if you are interested in the rural south, slavery, early settlement, Native Americans, and colonial expansion you might consider reading this book.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is on ecology, changes in the south east US forest, described before and after colonization by Europeans.(1500-1800)

[LauriAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have read William Cronon's Changes in the Land, skip this one, it is a bit redundant.