"Few studies have been able to combine environmental, political, legal, and scientific history in such a coherent analytical framework… a significant contribution not only to Hungarian historiography but also to wider scholarship on environmental governance and the history of scientific expertise. Balogh's work offers a compelling reinterpretation of how modern states learned to govern not only landscapes but also populations, demonstrating that forestry was a vital site of intersection of knowledge, politics, and nature. His focus on the co-production of environmental knowledge and political authority offers a useful model for future studies of natural resource management beyond central Europe. This original and thoughtful monograph should be of interest to scholars of environmental history, the history of science, political history, and modern Europe."
– Daniel Graham, H-Environment, 2026
"Balogh’s work is, overall, an important early contribution to the history of forests and forestry in the region, not just Hungary."
– George Andrei, Hungarian Historical Review, 2026
