Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World

by Cushman, Gregory T.

• ISBN13: 9781107004139
• ISBN10: 1107004136
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-03-25
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

For centuries, bird guano has played a pivotal role in the agricultural and economic development of Latin America, East Asia, and Oceania. As their populations ballooned during the Industrial Revolution, North American and European powers came to depend on this unique resource as well, helping them meet their ever-increasing farming needs. This book explores how the production and commodification of guano has shaped the modern Pacific Basin and the world's relationship to the region. Marrying traditional methods of historical analysis with a broad interdisciplinary approach, Gregory T. Cushman casts this once little-known commodity as an engine of Western industrialization, offering new insight into uniquely modern developments such as environmental consciousness and conservation movements; the ascendance of science, technology, and expertise; international relations; and world war.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations

Preface

Abbreviations and acronyms

Prologue

Introduction

The guano age

Neo-ecological imperialism

Where is Banaba?

Conservation and the technocratic ideal

The most valuable birds in the world

When the Japanese came to dinner

The road to survival

Guano and the Blue Revolution

Conclusion

Select bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.