Memoirs of a cedar : a history of deforestation, a future of conservation

If the cedars of Lebanon could take they would tell a story of human greed and ignorance going all the way back to the Epic of Gilgamesh. With Gilgamesh's well-documented exploitation of the cedar forests began the age of the conspicuous consumption of Lebanon's natural resources -- which proved so popular that the destruction never stopped but in fact worsened as one civilization was defeated and another took its place. This book covers the story of that shameful exploitation as recorded by ancient and modern writers, and reminds us that the Lebanese have been just as guilty of the destruction of the cedar forests as the other ancient civilizations.