Farming Communities in the Western Alps, 1500–1914

Robert A. Dodgshon is an emeritus professor of Aberystwyth University. He was formerly Gregynog Professor of Geography and Director of the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth. He has written extensively on historical geography. His previous work includes books on geographical change, Europe and on farming communities in the Scottish Highlands and Islands during the medieval and early modern period. He has long had a particular interest in the livelihoods and strategies by which mountain communities generally ensured stability. As well as being a Founding Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, he is also a Fellow of the British Academy.

• Introduction: Traditional Alpine Communities and the Challenge of Long-term Sustainability.- The Landholding Foundations of Alpine Farming.- Face to the Sun: the Exploitation of Arable.- The Ties that Bind: Livestock Farming in the Western Alps 1500-1914.- The Alpine Commons: Resource, Regulation and Exploitation 1500-1914.- The Alpage of the Western Alps.- Coping with Risk 1500-1914.- Epilogue.