The empire of nature

Imperialism was more than a set of economic, political, and military phenomena. It was a habit of mind, a dominant idea in the era of European world supremacy which had widespread intellectual, cultural, and technical expressions. Changing approaches to hunting constitute an important theme in human history. The pursuit and killing of animals has invariably developed ideological overtones and both literature and the pictorial arts have tended to stress the mythic, courtly, and martial rather than the purely practical aspects of the chase. Nineteenth century European hunters—aware of this rich tradition—turned hunting into a symbolic activity of global dominance, and thus of the culture of imperialism. Hunting was closely connected to economics, social functions, the study of natural history, and the technological development of firearms, while being subject to complex legislation. This volume examines hunting as one focus of the interaction of Europeans with Africans and Indians, while illuminating the nature of imperial power when exercised in the relationship between humans and the natural world.