"First published in 2002, Deforesting the Earth was a landmark study of the history and geography of deforestation. Now available here as an abridgment, this edition retains the breadth of the original while rendering its arguments accessible to a general readership." "Deforestation-the thinning, changing, and wholesale clearing of forests for fuel, shelter, and agriculture-is among the most important ways humans have transformed the environment. Surveying ten thousand years to trace human-induced deforestation's effect on economies, societies, and landscapes around the world, Deforesting the Earth is the preeminent history of this process and its consequences. Book jacket."--Jacket.