Paradise Blues

Christof Mauch is Director of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, and Chair in American Cultural History at LMU Munich. He lived in the USA for 14 years, directed the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. (1999-2007) and taught at several US universities, most recently as Carl Schurz Memorial Professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Mauch was the first Chairperson (now: President) of the Board of Directors of the International Consortium for Environmental History Organizations, ICEHO (2009-2011) and he served as Vice President and President of the European Society for Environmental History (2009-2013). Mauch has published or edited more than forty books and has received numerous international awards for his scholarly contributions and engagement, including the Distinguished Career in Public Environmental History Award from the American Society for Environmental History, the Teaching Innovation Award from the LMU Munich, and the Planetary Award from the Institute for Future Competences.

• Prologue1. Wiseman, Alaska - 'The Happiest Civilization'2. Malibu, California - Stranger than Paradise3. Memphis, Tennessee - Mississippi Blues4. St Thomas, Nevada - The Ghosts Return5. Dodge City, Kansas - The Windy Wild West6. Niagara, New York - The Second Greatest Disappointment 7. Disneyworld, Florida - At Least Two Natures8. Portland, Oregon - Travelling through America's Green FutureAfterword, Inde

'Mauch has always been great intellectual company, but in Paradise Blues he excels himself. This dazzling portrait of America reveals a nation that is neither monolithic nor polarized. Instead, we see the intricate interplay between many peoples and their particular landscapes from an agricultural Eden above the Arctic circle to Disneyworld, from Memphis's radicalized development patterns to Portland's ecofreaks. Seldom is such deep scholarship combined with such compassionate storytelling. Paradise Blues lets us ride in the passenger seat, while Christof Mauch shows us the stunning beautiful, complex, troubled country beyond American stereotypes'. Julia Adeney Thomas • 'The rise of the United States from semi-wilderness to superpower is the foundational story of modernity. Usually, its history is told as a grand narrative of progress or failure-always monumental in scope, simple in conclusions. Paradise Blues, in contrast, eschews the big picture and provides a more complex narrative, focused on a series of American communities. He approaches their histories as a happy traveller looking for people to talk to, novels and reports to read, and with an eye for telling detail. The result is wonderfully engaging and revealing. In Mauch's vision Americans may be guilty of ruining many places, but often the ruin is mixed with encouraging triumphs. Highly recommended as a new kind history for a world seeking hope'. Donald Worster • ‘a colourful road trip that opens readers’ eyes to the many layers of “blues” that have shaped the American continent, its history, and environment’. Dorothee Brantz