The Garden of Their Dreams : Desertification and Culture in World History

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating combination of ecology, sociology and history
Review: I admit that when I first came across this book I wasn't quite sure about the significance of the subject matter, or, indeed, if Id'be interested. It was my pleasure to discover, however, an entirely new approach to explain social and espcieally environmnetal degradation. The author interestingly shows how women are the first to suffer from environmental degradation. He uses the examples of lands facing - or that have faced - important desertification processes to show how a liberal society where men and women share more or less equal status can shift to favor the dominance of males. Students of ancient Egypt will be very interested to know there is a chapter on how desertification affected socio-cultural processes (and stagnation) in Egypt. There are chapters on China, North Africa and Europe some also touch on the effects that desertification has on racism and the strengthening of racial identities - namely aryan. It may all look imprpbable in thsi brief description that does little justice to the volume; however, it is surprising to find that there is a logical and sensical approach that allows for a very interesting,timely and satisfying read.