Foreword by William Cronon
Preface to the 1998 Paperback Edition
Preface to the Original Edition: Firestick History
Map of Australia
Map of Australia's Vegetation
Prologue: Dust to Dust
BOOK ONE: THE EUCALYPT
The Universal Australian
Unemaginable Freaks of Fire: Profile of a Pyrophyte
Red Centre: Fire Regimes of Old Australia
Land of Contraries
BOOK TWO: THE ABORIGINE
Flaming Front
Fierstick Farmer: Profile of a Pyrophile
Fires of the Dreaming
Smokes by Day, Fires by Night: Fire Regimes of Aboriginal
Australia
This Wonderful Depository of Fire
BOOK THREE: THE EUROPEAN
Entwining Fire
Reconnaissance by Fire: Education of a Pyrophile
Red Steer and Green Pick
Beyond the Black Stump
Fire Conservancy
Burning Off: Fire Provinces of European Australia
When the Billy Boiled
BOOK FOUR: THE NEW AUSTRALIAN
The Two Fires
Antipodean Fire: The Australian Strategy
Wild Bush, Urban Bush: Fire Regimes in New Australia
Epilogue: Ashes to Ashes
Notes
Bibliographic Essay
Index
Aborigines and eucalyptuses in effect worked together to make Australia one of the premier firescapes of the planet. Even today the burning bush remains a perennial challenge on the vast island continent. -- William Cronon, from the Foreword
"This is a phenomenal piece of research and writing, an epic that
moves from prehistoric geology to contemporary firefighting theory
and draws on an array of natural and social sciences to do so. This
is geographical writing at its best and most exhaustive and will
intrigue anyone interested in Australia, the environment or human
civilization."
*San Francisco Chronicle*
"Mr. Pyne, showing what a historian deeply schooled in
environmental science can contribute to our awareness of nature and
culture, has produced a provocative work that is a major
contribution to the literature of environmental studies."
*New York Times Book Review*
"Stephen Pyne is a great storyteller, and here he weaves as fine a
tale as one could imagine about a phenomenon as seemingly ordinary
as fire."
*Natural History*
This is a phenomenal piece of research and writing, an epic that moves from prehistoric geology to contemporary firefighting theory and draws on an array of natural and social sciences to do so. This is geographical writing at its best and most exhaustive and will intrigue anyone interested in Australia, the environment or human civilization.
* San Francisco Chronicle *Mr. Pyne, showing what a historian deeply schooled in environmental science can contribute to our awareness of nature and culture, has produced a provocative work that is a major contribution to the literature of environmental studies.
* New York Times Book Review *Stephen Pyne is a great storyteller, and here he weaves as fine a tale as one could imagine about a phenomenon as seemingly ordinary as fire.
* Natural History *Fire's effect on Australia's native flora and human environs is investigated in this exhaustive, illuminating study. Photos. (Mar.)
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