Bramao-Ramos, Sarah. “Ian M. Miller, ‘Fir and Empire: The Transformation of Forests in Early Modern China.’” New Books in Southeast Asian Studies, January 8, 2021. Mp3, 01:08:13.
Ian M. Miller’s book Fir and Empire: The Transformation of Forests in Early Modern China (University of Washington Press, 2020) offers a transformation of our understanding of China’s early modern environmental history. Using a wide range of archival materials, including tax, deed, and timber market records, Miller presents a picture of China’s forestry regime, something that, while not centralized—as in European states—was highly effective. Though China never adopted a forest bureau system, Miller shows how China managed, through fiscal policies alone, to engender a remarkably productive commerce in timber and other forest products. Revising the narrative of deforestation, this history of China’s distinct form of forest oversight is sure to be a must-read for anyone interested in the history of China, or environmental history more broadly. (Source: New Books Network)
In this episode of New Books in Southeast Asian Studies, Sarah Bramao-Ramos interviews Ian M. Miller, author of Fir and Empire: The Transformation of Forests in Early Modern China.
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