The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness

Flyn (Islands of Abandonment) delivers an exhilarating exploration of the nature and meaning of wild lands. The ideal of untouched wilderness is a myth, she argues, revealing that human history is present in even the most remote landscapes. She travels to deserts, mountains, and forests around the world to demonstrate how humanity’s conception of wilderness has changed over time. A trip to Egypt’s Mount Sinai elucidates wilderness’s ancient roots as a symbol of penance and renewal, as she discusses how people would search the desert for spiritual insight. In medieval times, wilderness came to be associated with the supernatural, as Flyn demonstrates through her visit to Transylvania, where people once believed werewolves and witches inhabited the woods. Over time, as the world industrialized and urbanized, efforts were made to preserve natural landscapes—at first, for the sake of aesthetics and recreation and then, as environmental anxiety grew, to protect natural resources and biodiversity. However, the global conservation movement has displaced millions of people from their homelands, according to Flyn. In Uganda, for example, efforts to protect mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest led to the removal of Indigenous Batwa forest people, who then became destitute. Throughout, Flyn blends exciting travel writing with deep philosophical discussions. Readers will be forced to rethink what wilderness is and whom it benefits. (July)