'Rare indeed is the privilege of reviewing a book that is destined to become a classic, but Michael Williams's Americans and Their Forests gives me just such an opportunity. Williams has written the definitive historical geography of the importance of forests in the life, livelihood, and landscape of the United States and the way in which our thinking about and our use of our forests have changed through time in response to our changing needs and ideals.' John Fraser Hart, Forest and Conservation History

• List of illustrations; List of tables; Preface; A note on tree, lumber, and plant association names; Abbrevaitions; Part I. The Forest Before 1600: 1. The forest in American life; 2. The forest and the Indian; Part II. Change in the Forest, 1600–1859: 3. The forest and pioneer life, 1600–1810; 4. Two centuries of change: the commercial uses of the forest; 5. The quickening pace: agricultural clearing, 1810–1860; 6. The quickening pace: the industrial impact, 1810–1860; Part III. Regional and National Impacts, 1860–1920: 7. The lumberman's assault on the forests of the Lake States, 1860–1890; 8. The lumberman's assault on the southern forest, 1880–1920; 9. The last lumber frontier: the rise of the Pacific Northwest, 1880–1940; 10. Industrial impacts on the forest, 1860–1920; 11. Agricultural impacts on the forest, 1860–1920; Part IV. Inquiry and Concern: Questions About the Forest, 1870–1933: 12. Preservation and management, 1870–1910; 13. Ownership, supply, protection, and use, 1900–1933; 14. The rebirth of the forest, 1933 and after; Notes; References; Index.

'Rare indeed is the privilege of reviewing a book that is destined to become a classic, but Michael Williams's Americans and Their Forests gives me just such an opportunity. Williams has written the definitive historical geography of the importance of forests in the life, livelihood, and landscape of the United States and the way in which our thinking about and our use of our forests have changed through time in response to our changing needs and ideals.' John Fraser Hart, Forest and Conservation History

• List of illustrations; List of tables; Preface; A note on tree, lumber, and plant association names; Abbrevaitions; Part I. The Forest Before 1600: 1. The forest in American life; 2. The forest and the Indian; Part II. Change in the Forest, 1600–1859: 3. The forest and pioneer life, 1600–1810; 4. Two centuries of change: the commercial uses of the forest; 5. The quickening pace: agricultural clearing, 1810–1860; 6. The quickening pace: the industrial impact, 1810–1860; Part III. Regional and National Impacts, 1860–1920: 7. The lumberman's assault on the forests of the Lake States, 1860–1890; 8. The lumberman's assault on the southern forest, 1880–1920; 9. The last lumber frontier: the rise of the Pacific Northwest, 1880–1940; 10. Industrial impacts on the forest, 1860–1920; 11. Agricultural impacts on the forest, 1860–1920; Part IV. Inquiry and Concern: Questions About the Forest, 1870–1933: 12. Preservation and management, 1870–1910; 13. Ownership, supply, protection, and use, 1900–1933; 14. The rebirth of the forest, 1933 and after; Notes; References; Index.