Environmental History of Australian Rainforests until 1939

Warwick Frost is Professor of Tourism, Heritage and the Media at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. His research interests include environmental history, comparative economic history and the history of national parks and zoos.

• Fire and Rain: Rainforests, Settler Societies and Frontiers From Regenwald to Rainforest: Changing Terminology and Meanings Gondwanan, Aboriginal or European Rainforests? The Evolution and Distribution of Rainforests European Settlement of Australia’s Wet Frontier, 1788-1914 Clearing the Rainforests: Techniques, Origins and Challenges The Environmental Impact of Clearing: Regrowth, Pests and Secondary Clearance Butter (and Sugar): The Search for a Sustainable Staple Chinese and Pacific Islanders: The White Frontier and the Other, 1880-1920 ‘My Love Is Otherwise’: The Fascination with Rainforests, 1820-1914 Forest Conservation, Water Supply and Transport: Tensions between Governments and Farmers Rainforest National Parks and Scenic Reserves: Origins, Developments and International Comparisons, 1872-1928 The Lamington Plateau: The World’s First Large Rainforest National Park Australia Unlimited? Conflicting Visions of Farming, Forestry and Conservation in Uncertain Times, 1918-1939 Afterword: 1939 and BeyondAppendix A: The Making of The Land of the Lyre BirdAppendix B: Common and Scientific Names of Plants

"Frost provides an ecologically informed human history of the rain forests of Australia, from the far north of Queensland to the southern island of Tasmania. [The] main focus is the impact of settlers, white and others, on Aboriginals ecologically, agriculturally, and culturally. He also emphasizes how rain forests have shaped the modern Australian imagination. Frost nicely fills a gap, adopting an interdisciplinary approach that draws from history, literature, and tourism studies, while not ignoring the basics of biology and ecology."D. S. Azzolina, University of Pennsylvania, USA, in an excerpt from the April 2022 issue of CHOICE.