Book Reviews: National atlas of Sweden. Agriculture and forestry in Sweden since 1900: a cartographic description

Summary

The reviewer praises Agriculture and Forestry in Sweden since 1900: A Cartographic Description (2011), part of the National Atlas of Sweden, and its companion anthology of geographical and historical studies. Arranged by the Royal Academy of Forestry and Agriculture in Sweden, the project follows up an agricultural atlas produced a century earlier, using a fund established by its original donor, Moritz Fraenckel. The new atlas's 50 chapters contain detailed maps and diagrams on technology, politics, landscape and industry; the anthology's 30 articles explore these topics further. The review identifies continuity in cultivated plains, forest landscapes and reindeer husbandry, while noting climate-dependent revisions to forest projections and differing estimates of reindeer losses to predators. It traces two major transformations: postwar agricultural mechanization and scientific techniques reduced farm numbers and raised productivity, while forestry experienced a further technological leap in the 1980s that reduced employment and accidents. Growing environmental demands brought attention to forest dead wood, declining fertilizer and pesticide use, expanding organic farming and a tenfold increase in nature reserves. Increasing second-home ownership illustrates recreational demands on the countryside. The reviewer emphasizes the cultural and political context of reindeer husbandry.