Prologue: the smoke of London; Part I. Transformations: 1. The early modernity of London; 2. Fires: London's turn to coal, 1575–1775; 3. Airs: smoke and pollution, 1600–1775; Part II. Contestations: 4. Royal spaces: palaces and brewhouses, 1575–1640; 5. Nuisance and neighbours; 6. Smoke in the scientific revolution; Part III. Fueling Leviathan: 7. The moral economy of fuel: coal, poverty, and necessity; 8. Fueling improvement: development, navigation, and revenue; 9. Regulations: policing markets and suppliers; 10. Protections: the wartime coal trade; Part IV. Accommodations: 11. Evelyn's place: fumifugium and the royal retreat from urban smoke; 12. Representations: coal smoke as urban life; 13. Movements: avoiding the smoky city; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.
William M. Cavert investigates the origins of urban air pollution, explaining how this problem arose during the early modern period.
William M. Cavert is a historian of early modern Britain focusing on urban and environmental history, holding a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, Illinois. He has published 'The Environmental Policy of Charles I: Coal Smoke and the English Monarchy, 1624–1640' in the Journal of British Studies, as well as related studies in Global Environment and Urban History. His work has been supported by grants from The Mellon Foundation, the Huntington Library, the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy, Northwestern University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of St Thomas, Minnesota, and by a fellowship at Clare College, Cambridge. His current research examines Britain during the Little Ice Age, focusing on cold winters, disasters, and relationships with animals.
'The Smoke of London takes its inspiration from environmental
history to make a powerful contribution to our understanding of
debates in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England about
urbanisation, economic growth, and its environmental consequences …
[The book] does forcibly show that debates about urban pollution
long predate the nineteenth century and offers a fascinating window
onto environmental attitudes in early modern England. Cavert's book
is, then, a wide-ranging, nuanced, and thoughtful contribution to
environmental, urban, and English history.' Robert J. Mayhew,
Journal of Historical Geography
'The Smoke of London will no doubt find undergraduate as well as
specialist readers: it is snappily written, meticulously and
helpfully footnoted and tackles historiographical debates in a
range of fields with admirable clarity. A memorable anecdote frames
each chapter, and gives a window into the breadth of research that
sits behind the book's key arguments. Sensitive readings of
literary sources are placed in a robust economic framework.
Carefully explained statistics sit alongside weird and wonderful
cases from the royal courts, in a potent blend of political,
scientific, economic, industrial and social history, all under the
'environmental' umbrella. It is a brilliant book that deserves to
be widely read.' Andy Burn, Urban History
'An erudite study of the environmental price paid by the growth of
early modern London, which looks to be repeated in present-day
Beijing.' Gillian Tindall, History Today
'William Cavert has written an engrossing, readable, and
authoritative study of a significant episode in the history of the
urban environment, one with important lessons for today.' Christine
L. Corton, Renaissance Quarterly
'Until recently, environmental history has remained something of a
curiosity in early modern British history. With The Smoke of
London, Cavert has done both fields a great service in showing the
importance of each to the other. This is a book that should be read
by anyone interested in urban, environmental, British, or early
modern history.' John Emrys Morgan, Canadian Journal of History
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