After being appointed the United States Minister Resident to the Ottoman Empire in 1849, George P. Marsh had the opportunity to travel the world and visit the sites of ancient civilizations. Troubled by what he saw, Marsh came to the conclusion that these societies were victims of self-destruction and that the same fate could be in store for the nations of today. Moved to action, Marsh would go on to publish Man and Nature: Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action in 1864.
Considered to be the first major work of environmental literature, Man and Nature would help to raise global awareness about the effect of human behavior on the natural world. Second only to Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species in impact and influence, the book would be instrumental to the creation of the United States National Forest and launch the conservation movement into high gear within the United States.
