Bibliogr.: p. 317-336.

Introduction : world history and environmental history / Kenneth Pomeranz -- The big story : human history, energy regimes, and the environment / Edmund Burke III -- Toward a global system of property rights in land / John F. Richards -- The transformation of the Middle Eastern environment, 1500 B.C.E.-2000 C.E. / Edmund Burke III -- The transformation of China's environment, 1500-2000 / Kenneth Pomeranz -- The Rhine as a world river / Mark Cioc -- Continuity and transformation : colonial rice frontiers and their environmental impact on the great river deltas of mainland Southeast Asia / Michael Adas -- Beyond the colonial paradigm : African history and environmental history in large-scale perspective / William Beinart -- Environmental histories of India : of states, landscapes, and ecologies / Mahesh Rangarajan -- Latin American environmental history : a shifting old/new field / Lise Sedrez -- The predatory tribute-taking state : a framework for understanding Russian environmental history / Douglas R. Weiner.