Assistant Professor of History David Fedman’s book, Seeds of Control: Japan’s Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea (University of Washington Press, 2020), has won the American Historical Association’s (AHA) Pacific Coast Branch Book Award.
The AHA awards the Pacific Coast Branch Book Award annually to an outstanding first monograph from a member of the AHA’s Pacific Coast Branch on any historical subject. Fedman will be recognized with a $250 award.
In Seeds of Control, Fedman provides an environmental history of the Korean peninsula in the 20th-century. Through archival research and frequent trips to both Japan and South Korea, he pieces together the story of how Japan’s interventions in Korean forests during colonial times played out, and how that legacy lives on even today.
"This award comes as a tremendous honor,” Fedman said. “After ten years of research and writing, it's definitely gratifying to learn that some fellow historians appreciate the thought and care that went into the project. More than anything else, this recognition fills me with a profound sense of gratitude for the countless friends and colleagues who helped me at every step along the way."
Seeds of Control was also a finalist for the American Society for Environmental History's George Perkins Marsh Prize, which is awarded to the best book in environmental history.
Learn more about Seeds of Control here.