Joachim Radkau in his book travels through a variety of eras and landscapes - from the “water republics” of Venice and Holland to the rice-growing terraces of China and Bali, meeting with a variety of figures - from primitive hunters to modern specialists in helping third world countries. Red The thread running through the entire book is that the issue of the environment is always a matter of power. The semantic center of the book is the section “Water, forest and power”. No less important is the idea that “nature” is not only something external to man, but also a significant part of him. The history of ecology, according to the author, is the history of mentalities. The special value of the book lies in the enormous scope of the literature used - not only the leading works of famous foreign specialists of the 20th century are analyzed, but also the reaction to them. CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION (J. OBERTREIS) 8 PREFACE TO THE GERMAN EDITION 10 PREFACE TO THE RUSSIAN EDITION 13I. REFLECTIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY 201. HIDDEN DANGERS: BLIND SPOTS, BLINDERS ON THE EYES, AND DEAD-DEAD PATHS IN THE HISTORICAL STUDY OF HUMAN-NATURE RELATIONS 202. A WICKED CIRCLE AND A MAZE OF EXITS 2 7 Excursion: Liebig's theory - the problem of wastewater as the basis of environmental history 333. IN THE DEEP OF TIME . NATURE'S IDEAL: THE MYSTERIOUS ABILITY TO REVIVAL 384. TREES OR SHEEP? THE PROBLEM OF DETERMINING VALUES IN ECOLOGICAL HISTORY 445. ECOLOGY AS AN EXPLANATION OF HISTORY: FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MAYAN CULTURE TO THE IRISH FAMINE 536. TERRA INCOGNITA: HISTORY OF THE ENVIRONMENT—THE HISTORY OF THE SECRET OR THE HISTORY OF THE BANAL? 58I. ECOLOGY OF EXISTENCE AND HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE: PRIMITIVE SYMBIOSIS OF HUMAN AND NATURE 641. IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS FIRE: WORLDWIDE FIRE ECONOMY AND PYROMANIA IN ECOLOGICAL HISTORY 702. MAN AND ANIMAL - HUNTING AND DOMESTICATION 753. VEGETABLE GARDENS AND GARDENS OF THE EARTH 844. CANDLESMERS AND SHEPHERDERS 925. "TRADEDY OF THE COMMON RESOURCES" AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TURN. WAS TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE "SUBCONSCIOUS ROBBERY"? 1046. MOTHER EARTH AND FATHER HEAVEN: ON THE ISSUE OF THE ECOLOGY OF RELIGION 112III. WATER, FOREST AND POWER 1221. HYDRAULIC CONSTRUCTION, DOMINATION AND ECOLOGICAL CHAIN REACTION 1232. EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA: ARCHETYPICAL CONTRAST 1303. IRRIGATION TERRACE: CULTURE OF SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL CELLS 1354. CHINA AS A MODEL TO EMERGE AND AS AN EXAMPLE TO DETERMINATE 1415. CULTURES ON THE WATER IN SMALL SPACE: VENICE AND HOLLAND 1586. MALARIA, IRRIGATION, FOREST CLAMPING. ENDEMIC AS NEMESIS OF NATURE AND GUARDIAN OF ECOLOGICAL RESERVES 1717. FOREST CLEVELOPMENT AND “ECOLOGICAL SUICIDE” OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: REAL PROBLEM OR PHANTOM? EROSION IN HARMONY WITH NATURE AND FALSE HISTORIZATION 1768. FOREST AND IN LUST IN EUROPE: FROM FOREST CLEARING TO THE ERA OF FORESTRY ESTABLISHMENTS 1819. WHERE AWARENESS BEGAN CRISIS—TOWNS AND MINES 190IV. COLONIALISM AS A WATERDIVISION OF ECOLOGICAL HISTORY 2011. THE MONGOL EMPIRE AND “UNIFICATION OF THE WORLD BY MICROBES” 2022. ECOLOGICAL TRENDS OF OVERSEAS COLONIALISM 2063. GENESIS OF A GLOBAL VIEW: COLONIAL AND ISLAND SOURCES OF ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE MODERN ERA 2134. COLONIALISM AND POST-COLONIALISM IN THE ECOLOGICAL HISTORY OF INDIA 2205. ECOLOGY OF THE YANKEE AND ECOLOGY OF THE MUZHIK 2286. ON THE QUESTION OF THE SPECIAL PATH OF EUROPE IN THE HISTORY OF THE ENVIRONMENT. CONSEQUENCES COLONIALISM FOR THE COLONIAL POWERS 234V. AT THE LIMITS OF NATURE 2451. ATTACK ON THE LAST RESERVES 2452. “WHERE IS MANURE, THERE IS CHRIST”: FROM STEAM AND FLOOD TO THE “CULT OF MANURE” AND POLITICATION OF AGRICULTURE 2563. FEARS OF SHORTAGE OF WOOD. FOREST RESTORATION CAMPAIGN AND FOREST APOLOGETICS IN ECOLOGY 2644. DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELIGION OF NATURE IN THE MODERN ERA 2745. NATURE AND THE NATION. ON THE WAY TO SPECIFICATION OF PROTECTED NATURE 2806. FIRST INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGICAL CRISIS. GENESIS OF A MODERN MODEL OF ANTI-CRISIS MANAGEMENT 295VI. IN THE LABYRINTH OF GLOBALIZATION 3061. THE DEEPEST FRACTURE IN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY: THE FAILURE OF GLOBAL AMERICANIZATION 3062. BLOOD AND SOIL: AMOK OF AUTARKISM 3163. UNDERGROUND OF ECOLOGICAL ANXIETY: ATOMIC APOCALYPSE AND FEAR OF CANCER 3224. SCIENTIFIC, SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL SOURCES OF ECOLOGICAL MOVEMENTS 3295. NEPAL, BHUTAN AND OTHER HIGH PROSPECTS: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THE CONTEXT OF TOURISM, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND SPACE RESEARCH 3366. ISSUES OF AUTHORITY AND LACK OF GUARANTEE IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES E 352NOTES AND COMMENTS 365INDEX OF NAMES 456INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 466