The Nature of Mediterranean Europe An Ecological History A.T. Grove, Oliver Rackham

Mediterranean Europe - southern Portugal and Spain, France, Italy, the Balkans, Greece and the Mediterranean islands - is often interpreted as a "Lost Eden", once verdant and fertile, then progressively degraded and desertified by human mismanagement and the ignorance and folly of successive civilizations. In this ecological history, two scholars seek to challenge this pessimistic view.

A.T. Grove, a geographer, is emeritus fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. Oliver Rackham, a botanist in the department of forestry, is a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

"a wry, scholarly and beautifully written book" Charles Clover, Daily Telegraph