Saving the World

Brett M. Bennett (Author) Brett M. Bennett is Associate Professor of History at Western Sydney University, Australia, and Visiting Professor in the Department of History in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His publications include Plantations and Protected Areas: A Global History of Forest Management (2015).Gregory A. Barton (Author) Gregory A. Barton is Professor of History at Western Sydney University, Australia, and Visiting Professor in the Department of History in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His publications include The Global History of Organic Farming (2018).

"Winner of the 2025 Weyerhaeuser Book Award" - The Forest History Society"A historical approach to the ideas behind climate change, with a particular focus on the role of trees . . . if the development of scientific thought interests you, there’s plenty of food for thought here on a subject that couldn’t be more topical." - The Arbuturian"Saving the World . . . details the ways in which eighteenth-century initiatives against deforestation, motivated by the belief that forests recycled rain, advanced humanity’s understanding of how human actions affect climate." - Publishers Weekly"You might imagine no one worried much about human impacts on the climate (particularly through deforestation) before the last thirty years. Not so! This elegant and meticulously researched history excavates a fascinating record of investigations into those critical themes, traversing effortlessly from the USA and Europe to India, Africa and South America. In so doing, it provides a timely and significant reflection on contemporary discussions about both the science and the politics of climate change." - Sir Jonathon Porritt, co-founder of Forum for the Future and author of Hope in Hell: A Decade to Confront the Climate Emergency"This is an extraordinary book, telling the compelling, yet thus far, neglected story of the rise, fall and revival of climatic botany. Bennett and Barton, drawing on extensive archival research, have woven together an enthralling environmental history of climatic botany, stretching from its early modern origins through expansive European empires to present-day scientific frameworks. It is a must-read for those interested in forest, empire and climate change histories." - Paul Munro, Scientia Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of New South Wales, and author of Colonial Seeds in African Soil"Climate change and environmental crises are now at the centre of global concern. Brett M. Bennett and Gregory A. Barton vividly demonstrate that the ideas underlying present anxieties have a deep and multi-faceted history. We need to know about these past debates: they are fascinating and they remain influential today. This book, ranging widely from forests to deserts, and from Mauritius, via India, to North America is an excellent place to start." - William Beinart, Emeritus Professor, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford

• Introduction The Forgotten History of Climatic BotanyChapter 1: Redeeming the New WorldChapter 2: Losing the New World: When Climate Change Became BadChapter 3: Stopping Climate Change in British IndiaChapter 4: The Evaporation of the Forest-Climate QuestionChapter 5: State of Emergency: Saving the World from DesertsChapter 6: How Dreams of Reclaiming Deserts EvaporatedChapter 7: The Revival of the Forest-Rainfall ConnectionConclusion Making Meaning from Climate Change ReferencesBibliographyAcknowledgementsIndex