Swamp: Nature and Culture

by Anthony Wilson

Throughout history, swamps have been idealized and demonized, purged and protected. Today, they are simultaneously considered metaphorical places of evil, pestilence, and death, and treasured as diverse biological ecosystems teeming with life.

Covering not only swamps and bogs but also marshes and wetlands, Swamp ventures into the cultural and ecological histories of these mysterious, mythologized, and misunderstood landscapes. Anthony Wilson takes readers into swamps across the globe, from the freshwater marshes of Botswana’s tremendous Okavango delta, to the notable swamps between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, to the peat bogs in Russia, the British Isles, and Scandinavia, which have been used as energy sources for centuries. It explores ideas and representations of wetlands across centuries, cultures, and continents, considering legend and folklore, mythology, literature, film, and natural and cultural history. As it plumbs the murky depths of swamps from the distant past to an uncertain future, Swamps provides an engaging, accessible, informative, and lavishly illustrated journey into these fascinating landscapes.
 

248 pages, Paperback

Published January 15, 2018

Reviews

[Anna Hawes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This publisher (Reaktion books) has a series about the Earth and a series about animals, where each book is written by a different expert author. They are sort of like extended encyclopedia articles (lots of pictures!) that deal with the weather phenomenon or animal itself as well as the way humans interact with it in different cultures. I really liked this one because the human attitude toward swamps over history is pretty fascinating. The author's specialty is swamps in the American South so that is a main focus but he does discuss some international perspectives. The intersection of myth and discrimination around swamps and those who choose to live in them was something I'd never really considered before. I want to read all the swamp myths now and I hope we can preserve them now that we understand what assets they are.

I will definitely be picking up more books by this publisher for brain food and they will be perfect for my kids when they get a little older.

[Hebbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cool and wide-reaching... just wish it had a bit more depth on the implications of this-or-that perspective of swamps. I also longed for a less top-down/colonialist voice/perspective. People cast as other were mentioned and connected to the swamp, but not in a way that meaningfully demonstrated agency (a tricky thing to navigate for many writers, I admit). I learned a lot, though!