1
of
1
Trees Are Shape Shifters
How Cultivation, Climate Change, and Disaster Create Landscapes
Series: Yale Agrarian Studies Series
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
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$7199
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 3-4 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
Trees Are Shape Shifters
$7199
Unit price
/
Unavailable
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?
Latest News
The First Ever NZ Children's Book Week!
We are so excited to celebrate kids reading books with the first NZ Children's Book...
What Lizzy's Family Loved on a Long Weekend Away
We recently went on a family long weekend away to Ohakune, a new spot for...
Why We Still Love Pokémon
Pokémon has changed enormously since I was trading cards at school and playing it on...
Paw Patrol : The Dino Movie Toys Have Arrived!
The new Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie toys have arrived & are ready to ship!
New Releases to add to your TBR (11th August)
There's a new release for everyone this week - here's your TBR roundup! Lizzy shares...
See moreAn exploration of the anthropogenic landscapes of Lucca, Italy, and how its people understand social and environmental change through cultivation
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
Trees Are Shape Shifters by Andrew S. Mathews explores the anthropogenic landscapes of Lucca, Italy, and how its people understand social and environmental change through cultivation.
In Italy and around the Mediterranean, almost every stone, every tree, and every hillside show traces of human activities. Situating climate change within the context of the Anthropocene, Mathews investigates how people in Lucca make sense of social and environmental change by caring for the morphologies of trees and landscapes.
He analyses how people encounter climate change, not by thinking and talking about climate, but by caring for the environments around them. Maintaining landscape stability by caring for the forms of trees, rivers, and hillsides is a way that people link their experiences to the past and to larger-scale political questions.
The human-transformed landscapes of Italy are a harbinger of the experiences that all of us are likely to face, and addressing these disasters will call upon all of us to think about the human and natural histories of the landscapes we live in.
Series: Yale Agrarian Studies Series
View all-
Hearsay Is Not Excluded
Hearsay Is Not Excluded is a chronicle of natural history that argues the modern environmental crisis and rise in science scepticism co-developed with the rise of ever narrower scientific disciplines. For millennia, the field of natural history promoted a knowledgeable and unifying view of the world. In contrast, the modern rise of narrow scientific disciplines has promoted a dichotomy between...Paperback$5999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
In Praise of Floods
James C. Scott reframes rivers as alive and dynamic, revealing the consequences of treating them as resources for our profit. Rivers, on a long view, are alive. They are born; they change; they shift their channels; they forge new routes to the sea; they move both gradually and violently; they can teem (usually) with life; they may die a quasi-natural...Hardback$4799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Love for the Land
A moving exploration of presence and place told through the stories of small-scale farmers who, despite intense adversity, continue caring for their land. "An excellent work of environmental writing. . . . I highly recommend this book."—Barn Raiser, "Our Readers' Favourite Books of 2023" Love for the Land explores the power and potential of people-place relationships. Through clear and compelling...Paperback$3599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Saving a Rainforest and Losing the World
An unflinching investigation of the false promises of land sparing, exposing how its illusory successes mask the failures of green capitalism. For two decades, the concept of land sparing—the claim that agricultural intensification can spare land by preventing forest clearing for agricultural expansion—has dominated tropical forest conservation. Land sparing policies transform landscapes and livelihoods with the promise of reconciling agricultural...Paperback$9599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
The Yellow River
A three-thousand-year history of the Yellow River and the legacy of interactions between humans and the natural landscape From Neolithic times to the present day, the Yellow River and its watershed have both shaped and been shaped by human society. Using the Yellow River as a case study in understanding the long-term effects of environmentally significant human activity, Ruth Mostern...Hardback$6599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Trees Are Shape Shifters
Trees Are Shape Shifters by Andrew S. Mathews explores the anthropogenic landscapes of Lucca, Italy, and how its people understand social and environmental change through cultivation. In Italy and around the Mediterranean, almost every stone, every tree, and every hillside show traces of human activities. Situating climate change within the context of the Anthropocene, Mathews investigates how people in Lucca...Paperback$7199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Dust Bowls of Empire
Dust Bowls of Empire offers a profound reinterpretation of the Dust Bowl on the U.S. southern plains and its relevance for today. The 1930s witnessed a harrowing social and ecological disaster, defined by the severe nexus of drought, erosion, and economic depression that ravaged the U.S. southern plains. Known as the Dust Bowl, this crisis has become a major referent...Hardback$6599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Legions of Pigs in the Early Medieval West
An exploration of life in the early medieval West, using pigs as a lens to investigate agriculture, ecology, economy, and philosophy. From North Africa to the British Isles, pigs were a crucial part of agriculture and culture in the early medieval period. Jamie Kreiner examines how this ubiquitous species was integrated into early medieval ecologies and transformed the way that...Hardback$7799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Moving Crops and the Scales of History
Moving Crops and the Scales of History is a bold redefinition of historical inquiry based on the "cropscape"—the people, creatures, technologies, ideas, and places that surround a crop. Human efforts to move crops from one place to another have been a key driving force in history. Crops have been on the move for millennia, from wildlands into fields, from wetlands...Hardback$8399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
The Art of Not Being Governed
From the acclaimed author and scholar James C. Scott, the compelling tale of Asian peoples who until recently have stemmed the vast tide of state-making to live at arm’s length from any organised state society. For two thousand years, the disparate groups that now reside in Zomia (a mountainous region the size of Europe that consists of portions of seven...Paperback$5299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
The King's Harvest
A multidisciplinary environmental history of early China’s political systems, featuring newly available Chinese archaeological data The King's Harvest is a multidisciplinary study of the ecology of China’s early political systems up to the fall of the first empire in 207 BCE. Brian Lander traces the transformation of lowland North China’s landscapes from diverse forests and steppes to farmland. He argues...Hardback$7199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
The Most Crooked River in the World
An imaginative history of the Kankakee River, told in reverse chronological order, that examines the ecological losses caused as people transformed the river and its wetlands The Kankakee River, whose waters gathered west of present-day South Bend, Indiana, and meandered through the loose sediment left by Pleistocene glaciers, used to drain one of the largest wetlands in North America. In...Hardback$5999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks
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?
Trees Are Shape Shifters by Andrew S. Mathews is praised for weaving historical narratives and scientific understanding to explore how landscapes are managed by humans, particularly in the context of climate change. The book is described as a rich blend of local research and global environmental concerns, with a focus on the interaction between peasants' practices and the natural world in Tuscany. It highlights the story of how human activity and storytelling play crucial roles in shaping and understanding our environments.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780300260373
Publisher: Yale University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 10 January 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: Yale University Press
Illustration: 70 b-w illus.
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 19.0mm
Width: 156.0mm
Height: 235.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 320
About the Author
Andrew S. Mathews is associate professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
More from Science & Nature
View all-
John and Paul
THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'A triumph.' Deborah Levy, New Statesman 'Tremendous.' Alwyn Turner, The Times 'Revelatory.' Simon Schama, Financial Times 'The gold standard of Beatles books.' Anthony Quinn, Observer 'As enthralling and astonishing as their music.' Jon Dennis, Sunday Telegraph 'A masterpiece.' Dylan Jones, Evening Standard '[Ian Leslie]...Paperback$2800Elsewhere:$3299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Raising Hare
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE HAY FESTIVAL, SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, SPECTATOR AND iNEWS 'A beautiful book' - ANGELINA JOLIE 'I...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
What If? 10th Anniversary Edition
CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF THE MILLION-SELLING POP SCIENCE CLASSIC WITH A SPECIAL EDITION. THIS IS WHAT IF? . . . x10. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Nerd royalty' — BEN GOLDACRE 'Totally brilliant' — TIM HARFORD 'Required reading across the world' — NEW YORK TIMES From the creator of the wildly popular xkcd.com, experience hilarious and informative answers to important questions...Hardback$4200Elsewhere:$5000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Anxious Generation
A powerful argument for reclaiming childhood—and all human relationships—from the online world, from the influential social psychologist and international bestselling author. Jonathan Haidt has spent his career speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most difficult spaces—communities polarised by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the mental health emergency hitting teenagers today in many countries around...Paperback$2299Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Prisoners of Geography
Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present, and future to offer crucial insights into one of the major factors that determine world history – because if you don’t know geography, you’ll never have the full picture. Originally published in 2015, this completely revised and updated edition brings it up to date with the events and trends of the past...Paperback$2899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Diddly Squat: Home to Roost
It's been another memorable year on Diddly Squat Farm - will the chickens finally come home to roost? Welcome back to Clarkson's Farm. The spring crop failed. Farming sheep, pigs, and cows was hardly more lucrative (better off breeding ostriches...) But in the face of uncooperative weather, bureaucracy, and the world's persistent refusal to recognise his genius, our hero's not...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Place of Tides
To save the world, we have to start somewhere. One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been...Paperback$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Ultra-Processed People
Launching the runaway bestseller with ambitions to be the biggest non-fiction paperback of the year IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S THE FOOD. "If you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one" - Bee Wilson "You've got to get this book in your life . . . Completely compelling . . . Read a page...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Kitchen Confidential
The classic bestseller from the star of Parts Unknown and No Reservations: 25th Anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Irvine Welsh. BEFORE THERE WAS THE BEAR, THERE WAS BOURDAIN. ‘Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino’ — A.A. Gill ‘Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli’ — Daily Telegraph After twenty-five years of sex,...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Sapiens
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is an extraordinary exploration of humanity's history from the dawn of our species to the present day. Harari delves into our evolution, offering insights into the cognitive revolutions that allowed Homo sapiens to rise above other animal species. Traversing through various stages of human development, he examines the Agricultural Revolution, the unification of humankind through...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Invisible Women
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez is a groundbreaking and meticulously researched exploration into the pervasive gender bias that infiltrates every aspect of our society. Through compelling case studies and thorough analysis, this book unveils the hidden ways women are systematically disadvantaged in a world predominantly designed by and for men. Perez's revelations stretch across various sectors including government policy,...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Clean & Green
Simple swaps and innovative ideas for cleaning and maintaining your home that won't cost the Earth. Learn how easy it is to make simple swaps in your cleaning and tidying methods for a more eco-friendly home. This beautifully illustrated black and white guide with 101 hints and sustainable, natural cleaning tips and hacks will help you take small steps that...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
