Anticipatory History

Edited by Caitlin DeSilvey, Simon Naylor & Colin Sackett In recent years reports of accelerating sea level rise, species extinction, shifting weather patterns, and stressed landscapes have become increasingly common. Although we are well supplied with scientific information about environmental change, we often do not have the cultural resources to respond thoughtfully and to imagine our own futures in a tangibly altered world. This book poses the term ‘anticipatory history’ as a tool to help us connect past, present and future environmental change. Through discussion of a series of topics, a range of leading academics, authors and practitioners consider how the stories we tell about ecological and landscape histories can help shape our perceptions of plausible environmental futures.