The First Eden: The Mediterranean World and Man - History, Culture & Nature | Perfect for History Buffs, Travel Enthusiasts & Mediterranean Studies

If David Attenborough's myriad films and documentaries ever appealed to you, but you would like to go through some at a slower pace and have it on your shelf for future use, then this is a book you will like. It is written for a non-specialist audience and loaded with useful maps and great photographs. Starting with the geology of the Mediterranean---its drying out and refilling several times over millions of years---and continuing on to topics like the pygmy elephants and hippos that lived on islands like Sicily and Malta up to not-so ancient times, the book unfolds both the nature of the region and the history of the peoples who live there. It is certainly done with a broad brush. For academic detail and accuracy you could read Braudel, but this is a well-written introduction to Egypt, Crete, the horse peoples, Islam, the Crusaders, and the destruction of the forests for fuel and construction of houses and ships. He traces the introduction of new plants from the east to the west, as well as from the Americas after Columbus. Attenborough closes on a note of warning, saying that the vast transformation of land and water wrought in this region is now occurring everywhere. Are we going to do anything about it or just let it happen? In this book the Majorcan midwife toad and monk seal were just hanging on in 1987. Thirty years later, they are still in the same situation. Faint hope arises. At least they did not go extinct. What about us?