Landscape And Memory

One of Time Magazine's Best Books of the Year In Landscape and Memory Schama ranges over continents and centuries to reveal the psychic claims that human beings have made on nature. He tells of the Nazi cult of the primeval German forest; the play of Christian and pagan myth in Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers; and the duel between a monumental sculptor and a feminist gadfly on the slopes of Mount Rushmore. The result is a triumphant work of history, naturalism, mythology, and art. "A work of great ambition and enormous intellectual scope...consistently provocative and revealing."--New York Times "Extraordinary...a summary cannot convey the riches of this book. It will absorb, instruct, and fascinate."--New York Review of Books When We Look At A Landscape, Do We See Nature Or Culture? That Question Lies At The Heart Of This Book. The Author Believes That Every Landscape, Forest, River, Or Mountain, Is A Work Of The Mind, A Repository Of The Memories And Obsessions Of The People Who Gaze Upon It. In This Work Of History, Naturalism, Mythology, And Art, He Ranges Over Continents And Centuries To Reveal The Psychic Claims That Human Beings Have Made On Nature. He Tells Of The Nazi Cult Of The Primeval German Forest; The Play Of Christian And Pagan Myth In Bernini's Fountain Of The Four Rivers; And The Duel Between A Monumental Sculptor And A Feminist Gadfly On The Slopes Of Mount Rushmore. Pt. 1. Wood: Prologue: The Detour ; Ch. 1. In The Realm Of The Lithuanian Bison: The Royal Beats Of Baiłowieża. The Last Foray. Mortality, Immortality ; Ch. 2. Der Holzweg : The Track Through The Woods: The Hunt For Germania. Blood In The Forest. Arminius Redivivus ; Waldsterleben ; Ch. 3. The Liberties Of The Greenwood: Green Men. Living In The Woods : Laws And Outlaws. Hearts Of Oak And Bulwarks Of Liberty? The Pillars Of Gaul. In Extremis ; Ch. 4. The Verdant Cross: Grizzlies. Vegetable Resurrection. Pathfinders. The Verdant Cross. Tabernacles. Volvos At The Sepulchre -- Pt. 2. Water: Ch. 5. Streams Of Consciousness: The Flow Of Myth. Circulation : Arteries And Mysteries. Holy Confluences. Fons Sapientiae. Nile Brought To Tiber. Bernini And The Four Rivers ; Ch. 6. Bloodstreams: Sir Walter Ralegh Loses His Drift. The Man In The Brown Paper Boat. Power Lines. The Political Theory Of Whitebait. Bodies Of Water. The Waters Of Isis : The Thames And The Nile -- Pt. 3. Rock: Ch. 7. Dinocrates And The Shaman : Altitude, Beatitude, Magnitude: The Woman On Mount Rushmore. Dinocrates And The Shaman. Elevations. Exorcising Pilate. Calvaries Of Convenience. The Last Sacro Monte? ; Ch. 8. Vertical Empires, Cerebral Chasms: Delightful Horror. Vertical Empires, Cerebral Chasms. The Seat Of Virtue. Conquests. Albert The Great. Prospects Of Salvation -- Pt. 4. Wood, Water, Rock: Ch. 9. Arcadia Redesigned: Et In Arcadia Ego. Primitives And Pastorals. Rudeness And Confusion. An Arcadia For The People : The Forest Of Fontainebleau. Arcadia Under Glass. The Wild, Hairy Huckleberry. Simon Schama. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 613-621) And Index. Opening a radically new and original path into history, Simon Schama explores the scenery of our Western culture, both real landscapes and landscapes of the mind that have given us our sense of homeland, the dark woods of our imagined origins. What unfolds is a series of compelling journeys through space and time: from the ancient woodland of Poland, a symbol over the centuries of national endurance, through the forest birthplace of the German psyche, to the Big Trees of Yosemite that gave a new nation its holy past. Through all of history, from pre-classical antiquity to the Third Reich and beyond, Schama uncovers the myths and memories that have stamped themselves on our most basic social instincts and institutions: territorial identity, the wild and domestic, mortality and immortality.