The conquest of nature : water, landscape, and the making of modern Germany

Bibliographic Information

The conquest of nature : water, landscape, and the making of modern Germany

David Blackbourn

W.W. Norton, c2006

Other Title

The conquest of nature : water and the making of the modern German landscape

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Note

"Originally published in Great Britain under the title The conquest of nature: water and the making of the modern German landscape"--T.p. verso

Bibliography: p. [435]-449

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Majestic and lyrically written, The Conquest of Nature traces the rise of Germany through the development of water and landscape. David Blackbourn begins his morality tale in the mid-1700s, with the epic story of Frederick the Great, who attempted by importing the great scientific minds of the West and by harnessing the power of his army to transform the uninhabitable marshlands of his scattered kingdom into a modern state. Chronicling the great engineering projects that reshaped the mighty Rhine, the emergence of an ambitious German navy, and the development of hydroelectric power to fuel Germany's convulsive industrial growth before World War I, Blackbourn goes on to show how Nazi racial policies rested on German ideas of mastery of the natural world. Filled with striking reproductions of paintings, maps, and photographs, this grand work of modern history links culture, politics, and the environment in an exploration of the perils faced by nations that attempt to conquer nature.

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