A comprehensive study of timber supply and demand, using literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources from Greece, Rome, Egypt, Assyria, Lebanon and Mesopotamia. After an introduction there are 13 chapters: The nature of the evidence; Mediterranean forests; The cedars of Lebanon; Bronze Age palaces and Homer; Forests and fleets; Timber for armies; Athenian timber supplies; The City of Rome's timber supplies; Farms, parks and gardens; Furniture woods; Woods for sculpture; The timber trade; and Deforestation. Further information is given in 9 appendices -- including discussions of confusion among species names; Greek temple commissioners accounts; the forests of south Italy; the importance of pitch, tall trees and long timbers; and measures, coins and weights. In addition to a general index, indices are given to trees and their woods, selected references to classical authors, passages from the Bible, and inscriptions. -- AATA