White Pine: American History and the Tree that Made a Nation

by Andrew Vietze

Overview

A Compelling and Surprising Page-turner

The history of the ubiquitous pine tree is wrapped up with the history of early America--and in the hands of a gifted storyteller becomes a compelling read, almost an adventure story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493009077
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/15/2017
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	1,092,000
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Bestselling Maine author Andrew Vietze has been called "an excellent New England historian" by the Kennebec Journal and has won several awards for his history writing. The former Managing Editor of Down East: The Magazine of Maine, he's the author of six books, including Boon Island and Becoming Teddy Roosevelt, both of which were regional bestsellers, won Independent Publisher Book Awards, and were finalists for Book of the Year Awards (ForeWord Reviews). Becoming Teddy Roosevelt was also honored by decree of the Maine State Legislature as an example of what Maine writing should be and has become part of a conservation program for middle schoolers at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (called the nation's best public garden by TripAdvisor); Boon Island was called "a maritime whodunit rife with twist and turns and high drama" by Publishers Weekly and "superb. . . both well-researched history and a page-turning mystery that begs to be a motion picture" by the Portsmouth Herald. The book has attracted much attention from Hollywood and was featured on the Travel Channel show, Monumental Mysteries, in January of 2014.As a journalist, Vietze has won awards for history writing from the International Regional Magazine Association. His work has appeared in a wide array of print and online publications, including: the New York Times' LifeWire, Time Out New York, Weather.com's "Forecast Earth," AMC Outdoors, Explore, Big Sky Journal, Crawdaddy!, Popmatters, Offshore, and the Maine Times, and he has twice won awards for history writing from the International Regional Magazine Association.A Registered Maine Guide, Andrew Vietze had a tree fort in a tall old pine during his childhood and used to walk from one to the next in the forest canopy twenty feet above the ground. He spends half the year working as a seasonal ranger in Baxter State Park, stationed at an old sporting camp called Twin Pines.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction: White Pine Riot xiii

Chapter 1 The Bark Eaters 1

Chapter 2 The Forest for the Trees 11

Chapter 3 Trees across the Seas 19

Chapter 4 The Dominion of New England 31

Chapter 5 The Case of Cooke 47

Chapter 6 The Mast Trade 59

Chapter 7 Woodcutters Revolt 71

Chapter 8 Tree of Liberty, City of Fire 87

Chapter 9 Revolution Comes 99

Chapter 10 The Aroostook War 107

Chapter 11 The Forgotten Forest 121

Chapter 12 Treeconomics 133

Chapter 13 If a Tree Falls 147

Chapter 14 Snags 157

Endnotes 165

Index 175

About the Author 185

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

The roots of the eastern white pine run deep, literally and figuratively—the mighty tree has triggered rebellions, generated fortunes, and ignited the battle for national independence. Andrew Vietze has created a unique view of American history, one that’s beautifully written, lucid and detailed and fascinating throughout. -Michael Finkel, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Stranger in the Woods The white pine is one of the great McGuffins of history, a forgotten prime mover in the creation of both New England and the United States. Now Andrew Vietze has placed that noble tree where it belongs, as a focal point of our national story. White Pine is good history written in a refreshing, breezy style, surprising, illuminating and informed.  -James L. Nelson, Author of Benedict Arnold’s Navy Award-winning author Andrew Vietze’s White Pine is a gripping ride through a history of exploitation, power, and oppression rife with monarchies and massacres, diseases and deceits, rebels and the good fight. It’s the story of hardworking, independent people as singular and proud as their chosen totem, the mighty yet modest White Pine. -Matthew P. Mayo, award-winning author of Stranded: A Story of Frontier Survival Andrew Vietze gives the eastern white pine the Kurlansky treatment with this meticulous and affectionate exploration of how the commonplace conifer has shaped (and continues to shape) New England. No silvicultural slog, it's a sweeping and surprisingly lively tribute to the trees that became the struts — and the symbols — of a rambunctious young nation. And it'll renew your appreciation for what's left of our once-great eastern woodlands. -Brian Kevin, Managing Editor, Down East Magazine