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The Alps

An Environmental History
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Stretching 1,200 kilometres across six countries, the Alps are a monumental mountain range with a rich geographical and historical significance in Europe. Jon Mathieu recounts the story of the Alps through time, from ancient Neolithic inhabitants to modern cyclists, revealing the mountains as a dynamic crossroads of culture, innovation, and conflict. This book highlights the Alps' profound influence on European thought, exploration, and ecology, showing them as vibrant and central to the continent's story.
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Format: Hardback
$3099
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book will appeal to readers interested in European history, geography, and nature, as well as those fascinated by cultural studies and environmental challenges. It is suitable for general readers, students, and scholars seeking a comprehensive yet accessible understanding of the Alps.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Stretching 1,200 kilometres across six countries, the colossal mountains of the Alps dominate Europe, geographically and historically. Enlightenment thinkers felt the sublime and magisterial peaks were the very embodiment of nature, Romantic poets looked to them for divine inspiration, and Victorian explorers tested their ingenuity and courage against them. Located at the crossroads between powerful states, the Alps have played a crucial role in the formation of European history, a place of intense cultural fusion as well as fierce conflict between warring nations. A diverse range of flora and fauna have made themselves at home in this harsh environment, which today welcomes over 100 million tourists a year.

Leading Alpine scholar Jon Mathieu tells the story of the people who have lived in and been inspired by these mountains and valleys, from the ancient peasants of the Neolithic to the cyclists of the Tour de France. Far from being a remote and backward corner of Europe, the Alps are shown by Mathieu to have been a crucible of new ideas and technologies at the heart of the European story.

The Alps provides an insightful look at the region’s impact on culture and history, challenging perceptions of it as merely a picturesque backdrop.

Series: Environmental History

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  • The Alps
    Stretching 1,200 kilometres across six countries, the colossal mountains of the Alps dominate Europe, geographically and historically. Enlightenment thinkers felt the sublime and magisterial peaks were the very embodiment of nature, Romantic poets looked to them for divine inspiration, and Victorian explorers tested their ingenuity and courage against them. Located at the crossroads between powerful states, the Alps have played...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

β€˜In the realm of Alpine history, Jon Mathieu is the leading voice … a compact but comprehensive overview noted for sophistication, clarity and wry humour’ β€” Donald Worster, author of A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir.

β€˜If I could recommend only one book about the Alps, it would be this one! A great and enjoyable read full of surprises, insights and wonderful illustrations’ β€” Christof Mauch, Director, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich.

β€˜An engaging, rigorous overview of Alpine history from earliest times to the present, accessible and enjoyable to read’ β€” Tait Keller, Rhodes College.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781509527717

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 25 January 2019

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Polity Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Rose Hadshar

Audience: General / adult, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 231.0mm

Weight: 476g

Pages: 184

About the Author

Jon Mathieu is Professor of History at the University of Lucerne and a renowned scholar of Alpine history. In 2016 The Alps won the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research’s prestigious Science Book of the Year award for the best humanities book for a general audience. In a career spanning thirty years, Mathieu has written seven books that have been translated into multiple languages.

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