Reddit mentions of Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 (Studies in Environment and History)

It's time once again for the AskHistorians Book Giveaway! This month we picked two winners: Eric Hacke and Alec Barnaby! The selection of books we have available this month are:

• Eugene Rogan's The Arabs: A History, recommended by /u/cptbuck.
  
  
• Vine Deloria's Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, recommended by /u/snapshot52.
  
  
• Terry Bouton's Taming Democracy: "The People," the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution, recommended by /u/uncovered-history.
  
  
• Eugene Crosby's Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900, my recommendation
  
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You might also try Alfred Crosby's Ecological Imperialism. It's required reading (along with Jared Diamond) for my Master's global history program. One thing to remember about Diamond is that he is not a historian and did not intend to write a history - only a theory of why Europeans were given a leg up with the help of environmental factors. Ecological Imperialism (written 10 years prior to Diamond) that operates on a similar theory but is much more historical and (honestly) isn't as dry or repetitive as Diamond. It's worth noting that while Diamond get's a lot of press and praise his theory is also hotly debated by historians and biologists alike.

Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 is an alternative that I've been recommended.

Here are three books on very different topics that could pique your interest in something new:Ecological Imperialism by Alfred Crosby; The Mission of Friar Rubruck by Willem Van Ruysbroeck; Magic in the Middle Ages by Richard Kieckhefer.

I read Beyond the Deep and Blind Descent over the summer. Both are about supercave exploration, which it turns out is the most terrifying thing on earth. Both are in the same genre as Into Thin Air, another horribly scary book about things I will never ever do. I'd recommend reading Blind Descent first because it's the more general book, while Into the Deep is about one specific exploration. Both are absolutely mandatory reading if you're planning on seeing that new James Cameron movie that comes out in February.

On the history front, April 1865 by Jay Winik is a superb analysis of the last month of the Civil War. Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk is a great analysis of Lincoln's lifelong battle with depression. And Ecological Imperialism by Alfred Crosby is one of the most interesting history books I've read in a long time. This may be a good follow-up to Guns, Germs, and Steel if you're interested in environmental history.