ABOUT THIS BOOK

The Long Shadows is the first book-length work to offer global perspectives on the environmental history of World War II. Based on long-term research, the selected articles represent the best available studies in different fields and countries. With contributions touching on Europe, America, Asia, and Africa, the book has a truly global approach.

While other edited volumes on the environmental history of warfare discuss multiple wars and various time periods, The Long Shadows is devoted exclusively to World War II and its profound and lasting impact on global environments, encompassing polar, temperate and tropical ecological zones. Divided into three main sections, the first offers an introduction to and holistic overview of the War. The second section of the book examines the social and environmental impacts of the conflict, while the third focuses on the history and legacy of resource extraction. A fourth and final section offers conclusions and hypotheses. Numerous themes and topics are explored in these previously unpublished essays, including the new and innovative field of acoustic ecology, the environmental policies of the Third Reich, Japanese imperialism and marine resources, and the control of Typhus fever.

Aimed at researchers and students in the fields of environmental history, military history, and global history, The Long Shadows will also appeal to a general audience interested in the environmental impact of the greatest military conflict in the history of the world.

CONTRIBUTORS

Outi Ampuja
Alla Bolotova
Chris Boyer
Matthew Evenden
Paul Josephson
Simo Laakkonen
Helene Laurent
Carol MacLennan
Gregory Maddox
Ilmo Massa
Evan Mawdsley
Micah Muscolino
William Tsutsui
Richard Tucker
Timo Vuorisalo
Anna-Katharina Wöbse

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Simo Laakkonen and Timo Vuorisale are Senior Lecturers at the University of Turku, Finland.Richard Tucker is Adjunct Professor in the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan.

REVIEWS

"The contributors to [the landmark book] The Long Shadows have marshalled impressive historical materials delineating the human and environmental tragedies stemming from World War II."
- G. Tracy Mehan III, The Environmental Forum

TABLE OF CONTENTS

“The Long Shadows”

John McNeill

Acknowledgements

List of Illustrations

Part I–Introduction

Chapter 1. “Introduction: The Long Shadows”

The editors

Chapter 2. “Polemosphere: The War, Society and the Environment”

Simo Laakkonen

Chapter 3. “World War II: A Global Perspective”

Evan Mawdsley

Part II–Social and Environmental Impacts of the War

Chapter 4. “Environmental Policies of the Third Reich”

Simo Laakkonen

Chapter 5. “The Costs of the War for the USSR”

Paul Josephson

Chapter 6. “Conceptualizing Wartime Flood and Famine in China”

Micah Muscolino

Chapter 7. “Environmental Scars in Northeastern India and Burma”

Richard Tucker

Chapter 8. “Hawai‘i – Before and After Pearl Harbor”

Carol MacLennan

Chapter 9. “The Great Louse War: Control of Typhus Fever”

Helene Laurent

Chapter 10. “Perspectives on the Acoustic Ecology of War”

Outi Ampuja

Part III–Resource Extraction and the War

Chapter 11. “Aluminum’s Permanent Revolution”

Matthew Evenden

Chapter 12. “‘Crisis Utilization’ in Mexican Forests”

Chris Boyer

Chapter 13. “Food Disruption and Agricultural Policy in Tanganyika”

Gregory Maddox

Chapter 14. “Japanese Imperialism and Marine Resources”

William Tsutsui, and Timo Vuorisalo

Chapter 15. “Opening the Circumpolar Arctic World”

Ilmo Massa, and Alla Bolotova

Chapter 16. “International Conservation after the Two World Wars”

Anna-Katharina Wöbse

Part IV–Conclusions

Chapter 17. “Hypotheses: World War II and Its Shadows”

The editors

Authors

Index