Join App State’s Judkin Browning and Tim Silver for an enlightening discussion about their new book, An Environmental History of the Civil War — a fresh look at the most written about event in American history.

Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title, the book has been described by reviewers as “a stunning reinterpretation of the Civil War” and “one of the most original and anticipated [books] of the past decade.”
In addition to talking about their research, Browning and Silver offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how new history gets written and the ways in which scholars from different fields work together to shed new light on familiar events.

Browning and Silver are members of App State’s Department of History. Browning holds a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia and teaches military history. Silver, a professor emeritus, holds a Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary and specializes in environmental history. They view their research as integral to their work with App State students.

The pair treat the Civil War not just as a military conflict, but as an ecological event, one that had profound implications for the natural world. Soldiers from rural areas crowded together in training camps, creating new environments for measles, dysentery, typhoid, and a host of other diseases. Armies larger than most American cities confronted each other on the battlefield, bringing to rural areas all the problems of sanitation and waste disposal associated with urban life. Thousands of animals accompanied the troops — horses and mules that moved men, artillery, and supplies, as well as cattle and hogs that provided food for soldiers. Animals and people killed in battle had had to be disposed of, sometimes on a massive scale. Peculiarities of weather and terrain often dictated what armies could do and the armies, in turn, altered the terrain they occupied. The Civil War left a long environmental legacy, contributing to better weather forecasting, the rise of veterinary medicine, and even the establishment of National Parks.

This event is Free to the public and presented by the Appalachian State University Office of University Advancement Partnerships.