Peatbogs, Plague and Potatoes

About the Book: 

What can we learn from our environmental history that could help us deal with the threat of climate change in the 21st century and beyond? How could billion-year-old rocks shape the people living and farming on them today?

Today climate change is seen as a result of human intervention in the natural world. Three billion years ago, the continents we know were only just beginning to form, yet we can still trace the effects of the climate of that time on our lives. Ever since humans first arrived in Scotland 14,000 years ago, the environment has dictated how we live. Emma Wood traces the history of climate change back to prehistoric times, and explores how the environment has shaped our culture, our society and our politics. Climate, geography and geology have caused wars and invasions, influenced styles of building, religion and government, and broken down social structures. From sandstorms that burried whole villages to the importance of animal dung. Wood argues that Scotland's environment has made us into the people we are today, and that to understand our current options with the threat of global warming we should look at our past.

About the Author:

EMMA WOOD grew up in Yorkshire, read History at Cambridge and moved to Culrain, Sutherland in 1987. She worked as an English tutor for secondary school pupils, and, as a member of the Worker’s Educational Association, organised events and gave speeches throughout the Highlands on historical topics such as hydroelectricity. For five years she taught creative writing tutor at Moniack Mhor writers’ centre, and was involved in charity work for organisations such as the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Emma Wood died in 2016.