Abstract

Throughout history, swamps have been idealized and demonized, purged and protected. Today, they are simultaneously considered metaphorical places of evil, pestilence, and death, and treasured as diverse biological ecosystems teeming with life.

Covering not only swamps and bogs but also marshes and wetlands, Swamp ventures into the cultural and ecological histories of these mysterious, mythologized, and misunderstood landscapes. Anthony Wilson takes readers into swamps across the globe, from the freshwater marshes of Botswana’s tremendous Okavango delta, to the notable swamps between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, to the peat bogs in Russia, the British Isles, and Scandinavia, which have been used as energy sources for centuries. It explores ideas and representations of wetlands across centuries, cultures, and continents, considering legend and folklore, mythology, literature, film, and natural and cultural history. As it plumbs the murky depths of swamps from the distant past to an uncertain future, Swamps provides an engaging, accessible, informative, and lavishly illustrated journey into these fascinating landscapes.
 
"Swamps, once deemed tangles of putrefaction and peril, are only now receiving the respect they deserve. That's the dramatic arc of this beautifully illustrated social and literary history of wetlands." — Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History
"Wide-ranging. . . . Though more a cultural treatise than a scientific one, this is nonetheless a valuable resource for college and university collections. Recommended." — Choice
Anthony Wilson is associate professor of English at LaGrange College, Georgia.