Agricultural History Review, Volume 58 Part 1 (2010), p. 140

Unburdened by the shackles of RAE and REF, many academics choose to continue research and writing after retirement. Few academics, however, possess the necessary enthusiasm and influence to continue while simultaneously shaping and nurturing an entirely new discipline for almost two decades after their retirement. The author of this book firmly falls into the latter category. After his official retirement in 1991 he became the first director of the Institute for Environmental History at the University of St Andrews, before retiring for a second time in 2001. Post-1991 he has either singleauthored or edited nine books on various aspects of environmental history.

This latest book, as we have come to expect of Edinburgh University Press, has been produced to a very fine standard with well-reproduced illustrations. The index is useful but it is unfortunate that only a select bibliography was compiled. More importantly perhaps, it is still unclear at the time of writing whether a cheaper paperback version within the price range of students will be printed. This is slightly worrying since the ever-increasing numbers of students who study environmental history could and should have been targeted by EUP as potential customers.

Exploring environmental history consists of thirteen chapters, all of which have been previously published in some form. Readers need not worry about this. By my count (according to the notes provided by the author) only two of the 13 papers in this book have been republished without alteration. The remainder have all been altered to varying extents, classified as ranging from ‘slightly updated’ to ‘rewritten and much expanded’. The contents of this book have no common geographic theme: at least seven of the articles focus on Scotland, five utilize a British context, and one travels across the North Atlantic to include Iceland. What unites them is an enquiring mind interested in different aspects of environmental history post-1600.

For this reviewer the most powerful piece of writing in this book is the final chapter, ‘Environmental consciousness’. It is a rare event for a historian to let passion enter their writing since to do so could potentially alter objectivity. Yet in this chapter the reader, perhaps for the first time, is allowed to observe what truly motivates the author and his affection for nature. This makes the message contained within the final two paragraphs more powerful and it is a chilling and thought-provoking note upon which to end a genuinely interesting article.

In more general terms, one of the most interesting processes in reviewing this book has been to compare the original articles against their descendants and try to map the development of the author’s thought processes across time. A good example of this process is the piece entitled, ‘The Highlands and the roots of green consciousness, 1750–1990’. The author would probably be the first to admit that the original version of this piece did not give full consideration to some key pieces of evidence and it is to his credit that he has taken constructive criticism on-board to produce a substantial addition to the original that addresses those points. In this respect it is pleasing to see both Gaelic nature poetry and Seton Gordon receive some long overdue credit. However, it is slightly disappointing to note that neither Percy Unna nor his ‘Rules’, some of which the National Trust for Scotland have often done their level-best to ignore in Glencoe, still do not feature in the author’s narrative.

Of the remaining eleven chapters in this book five substantially concentrate on woods and their (ab)use in Scotland through time. One of the themes in these articles is the mythic ‘Great Wood of Caledon’ and the author, together with Breeze and Tipping (among others), have tried their level best to slay this shibboleth. Yet, as Smout himself remarks at the end of ‘Trees as historic landscapes’, ‘we are suckers for a good tale’ and the continuing impotency of academics to change public opinion about the ‘Great Caledonian Forest’ is perhaps best highlighted by a current project in Glen Moriston where some are busy trying to create their ‘vision of a renewed Caledonian Forest’. What, one might ask, is being lost in our headlong rush to establish green credentials?

This book deserves to become a recommended read for anyone interested in environmental history. Read it and weep for joy that during his eighth decade Professor Smout continues to enthuse upon, research, and write about nature and the environment.