Vortex, The

The Vortex is a sprawling mural worthy of Diego Rivera, depicting some forty stories in modern environmental history. Frank Uekötter is provocative at every turn, alive to ambiguities, moral and otherwise, and resistant to the temptation to impose consistency on the divergent, erratic, and unruly paths of different histories. Rejecting grand narratives, he offers a smorgasbord of stories from the centuries between 1500 and 1970 and from every inhabited continent, ranging freely from the cane fields of the Caribbean to the cane toads of Australia. A rich addition to the slender literature on global environmental history.

The Vortex is an extraordinary book. In the ebullient and high-quality editorial field of environmental history, it stands out as unique: there is nothing in the recent literature that approaches its level. This major work procures for the public an intense intellectual experience about the most compelling and difficult issues of our modern predicament. It is not only exhilarating to read; it is, more importantly, deeply rewarding for the mind. The reader comes out enlightened, more educated about profound issues that concern us all and our future.

The Vortex is a remarkable work of scholarship and an ambitious experiment in writing a new type of history that seeks to transcend the often overconfident claims made by conventional historical narratives. Frank Uekötter provides a stunning array of historical case examples from around the globe, encompassing everything from Peruvian silver mining to breadfruit cultivation to the Nazi autobahn. The depth, breadth, and range is nearly encyclopedic in scope, which perhaps should be the case for all global history, yet in practice is only rarely achieved. The sheer volume of research, information, and analysis is breathtaking.