ABSTRACT
In the last decade environmental history experienced a surge in popularity worldwide, especially in areas of study associated with the developing world and twentieth-century imperialism. Part of the interest in environmental history stems from growing awareness and concern about ecological problems, but perhaps more important is the buzz surrounding globalization. Environmental studies dispense with traditional nation state boundary concepts on which history writing often relies. In that vein, some of the most enterprising studies of environmental history analyze the global exchange of ecology along with their negative and positive effects on local environments. A large number of these studies focus on the role of imperialism as broker between transfers of ecology from one region to another. Yet economic issues cannot be excluded from a discussion of environmental history, particularly in terms of the developing world.
