Editorial Review

It’s December 1997, and a man-eating tiger is on the prowl outside a remote village in Russia’s Far East. The tiger isn’t just killing people, it’s annihilating them, and a team of men and their dogs must hunt it on foot through the forest in the brutal cold. As the trackers sift through the gruesome remains of the victims, they discover that these attacks aren’t random: the tiger is apparently engaged in a vendetta. Injured, starving, and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again.

As he re-creates these extraordinary events, John Vaillant gives us an unforgettable portrait of this spectacularly beautiful and mysterious region. We meet the native tribes who for centuries have worshipped and lived alongside tigers, even sharing their kills with them. We witness the arrival of Russian settlers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, soldiers and hunters who greatly diminished the tiger populations. And we come to know their descendants, who, crushed by poverty, have turned to poaching and further upset the natural balance of the region.

This ancient, tenuous relationship between man and predator is at the very heart of this remarkable book. Throughout we encounter surprising theories of how humans and tigers may have evolved to coexist, how we may have developed as scavengers rather than hunters, and how early Homo sapiens may have fit seamlessly into the tiger’s ecosystem. Above all, we come to understand the endangered Siberian tiger, a highly intelligent super-predator that can grow to ten feet long, weigh more than six hundred pounds, and range daily over vast territories of forest and mountain.

Beautifully written and deeply informative, The Tiger circles around three main characters: Vladimir Markov, a poacher killed by the tiger; Yuri Trush, the lead tracker; and the tiger himself. It is an absolutely gripping tale of man and nature that leads inexorably to a final showdown in a clearing deep in the taiga. ... Read more

Reviews

Gripping and informative, April 26, 2010

A Lyrical, Insightful, and rather Exhaustive Analysis, June 5, 2010

A Digressive Tale, May 12, 2010

This Tiger really burns bright, September 6, 2010
The remarkable thing about John Vaillant's The Tiger is not that it's a total page-turner, or that he manages to stuff the Tiger with so much fascinating natural and political history that you come away with three or four points added to your IQ, or that his lush descriptions are sensuous without being cloying and muscular without being macho, or that his characters are indelible and engaging and worthy of The Dirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare, or even that the tiger and its hunters will relentlessly stalk your consciousness when you aren't reading the book (quite a trick in attention-challenged times). It's that you will, without even knowing it, and even if you don't want to, find yourself suddenly occupying the tiger's world, and seeing it through his eyes, feeling its wounds and its anguish and its hatred, and, above all, rooting for it against your fellow humans. Let this book hunt you down and pounce on you. You won't regret it.

Loved it but not as described., June 17, 2010

Incredible!, August 23, 2010

Siberian tigers - an amazing story, August 5, 2010

A History Lesson, May 17, 2010

Good, but too ambitious and strains credibility, September 26, 2010
This is a fascinating true story of the environmental and economic forces that bring man and tiger into conflict, but it ranges too far in trying to bring these threads together. The basic story is pretty simple: post-perestroika poverty in southeast Russia combines with Chinese demand for natural resources and exotic animals to incentivize poaching and other environmental depredation. This, in turn, leads to scenarios in which the tiger sometimes wins, at least temporarily. In this particular case, a tiger kills and eats a poacher who had shot it. Injured and unable to hunt its normal prey, it kills and eats another human before it is killed by authorities.

Pros:
(1) All you ever wanted to know about human-tiger relations, from prehistory forward.
(2) All you ever wanted to know about the effects of communism and perestroika on south-eastern Russia.
(3) Sympathetic presentation of all the actors. The abject poverty of many of the humans involved makes it easier to understand why they did the things they did.

Cons:
(1) See #1 and #2 above, "and more". The story is stretched thin by too much backstory about too many people and human-tiger encounters. These digressions hurt the flow.
(2) As the book progresses, the tiger is presented as a sort of demiurge, exercising supernatural power over the actions of the humans.

Negatives aside, the book is still worth a read.

Informative, But Tries To Do Too Much, August 14, 2010

Editorial Review

Over 100,000 sold! Now newly revised and up to date, with over 2,000 color photographs and illustrations.Anyone who wants to learn basic living skills—the kind employed by our forefathers—and adapt them for a better life in the twenty-first century need look no further than this eminently useful, full-color guide. Countless readers have turned to Back to Basics for inspiration and instruction, escaping to an era before power saws and fast food restaurants and rediscovering the pleasures and challenges of a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Now newly updated, the hundreds of projects, step-by-step sequences, photographs, charts, and illustrations in Back to Basics will help you dye your own wool with plant pigments, graft trees, raise chickens, craft a hutch table with hand tools, and make treats such as blueberry peach jam and cheddar cheese. The truly ambitious will find instructions on how to build a log cabin or an adobe brick homestead. More than just practical advice, this is also a book for dreamers—even if you live in a city apartment you will find your imagination sparked, and there's no reason why you can't, for example, make a loom and weave a rag rug. Complete with tips for old-fashioned fun (square dancing calls, homemade toys, and kayaking tips), this may be the most thorough book on voluntary simplicity available. 2,000 color photos and 200 black-and-white illustrations ... Read more

Reviews

A traditional skills primer.
A primer on self-reliance and rural skills, this is a large-format book of 456 pages lavishly illustrated with photographs and drawings, about half in full color. Here are 57 subjects, many with subsets, as in gardening, which includes information on soil, cultivation methods, making and using a greenhouse, and specific information on many veggies, herbs, fruits. Some presentations are simplistic, like telling you how to find and evaluate a farm or can produce in only four pages. Building and using a smokehouse gets one page. Using dairy products butters ten pages. Woodworking and furniture making nail down thirty pages. Build and decorate a house and the chairs, tables, beds to furnish it. Build a springhouse, a dam, a well, a water system. Grow vegetables, fruits, grains. Raise bees, fish, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, hogs, sheep, goats, cows, horses. Make cheese, maple syrup, beer, wine, bread, soap, candles, baskets. Cook with wood. Spin yarn, use natural dyes, make cloth, quilts, rugs, hammocks. Learn tanning and leather work, tinsmithing, blacksmithing, toolmaking. Celebrate harvest and holidays with traditional decorations, recipes, toys, games, dances. Learn camping, hiking, fishing, canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing. Whew! This book will keep you happily occupied for several decades.

back to basics
i was given this book over 15 years ago. it has become my "bible" for basic skills. we refer to this book at least once a week for advice and instruction - and always manage to find what we're looking for! it does more than touch on subjects! you get in-depth instructions with pictures to guide you through such things as building a foundation and canning your own garden goods. my copy is well-worn from much use! i treasure this book and all the things i've learned from it. for those out there who wish to live more self-sufficiently, you must have this book.

The Best of Basics...
This was a really interesting book and I got a whole more than I expected. This book covers all kinds of traditional skills from chopping wood, building houses, plowing fields, food preparation, and so on. Just about anything you can imagine on everyday life skills from days long gone.

The bonus part to this was that it included a lot of modern day adaptations and applications for these skills. It could be a useful how-to manual for those that want to live a more simple life. It also includes a description of alternate eco-friendly fuel sources

A Wealth of Practical Information

My grandparents owned the first edition of this book years ago and I read it almost every time I was over at their house. When I saw it was updated, I bought my own copy. This is a how-to tome par excellence! In these pages you can learn to go far toward practical self sufficiency. Just about anything and everything you could ever seek to know regarding hands-on survival skills is explained inside this book. It's useful information for everyday life and a potential lifesaver in times of crisis. In here you can learn how to start fires under any weather conditions, make your own shoes from scratch, build furniture, houses, boats, find out how to raise animals, grow gardens and survive diasters. I feel more confident in my ability to get by in almost any situation than I did before I re-discovered this pragmatic classic. Knowledge, as they say, is power.

Great book
Not a step-by step guide, but usually has enough info on a particular subject to get you started. Some topic are covered in detail, like making braided rugs, while others understandably are only given a cursory review, such as building construction.

Tons of topics, with enough info to get you headed in the right direction for most, but you'll obviously want to get more detailed info on any of the more complex tasks they descibe. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Our relationship with the ocean is undergoing a profound transformation. Whereas just three decades ago nearly everything we ate from the sea was wild, rampant overfishing combined with an unprecedented bio-tech revolution has brought us to a point where wild and farmed fish occupy equal parts of a complex and confusing marketplace.We stand at the edge of a cataclysm; there is a distinct possibility that our children's children will never eat a wild fish that has swum freely in the sea. In Four Fish, award-winning writer and lifelong fisherman Paul Greenberg takes us on a culinary journey, exploring the history of the fish that dominate our menus---salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna-and examining where each stands at this critical moment in time. He visits Norwegian mega farms that use genetic techniques once pioneered on sheep to grow millions of pounds of salmon a year.He travels to the ancestral river of the Yupik Eskimos to see the only Fair Trade certified fishing company in the world.He investigates the way PCBs and mercury find their way into seafood; discovers how Mediterranean sea bass went global; Challenges the author of Cod to taste the difference between a farmed and a wild cod; and almost sinks to the bottom of the South Pacific while searching for an alternative to endangered bluefin tuna. Fish, Greenberg reveals, are the last truly wild food - for now. By examining the forces that get fish to our dinner tables, he shows how we can start to heal the oceans and fight for a world where healthy and sustainable seafood is the rule rather than the exception. ... Read more

Reviews

The Story of the Fish in Your Dinner

The limits of the sea

Should appeal to a wide audience

An Eye-Opening Look into the Complexity of our Present and Future Fisheries

"Why Did You Close the Season? We Haven't Caught Them All Yet."

A cautionary tale for our times

Editorial Review

The companion volume to the twelve-hour PBS series from the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Civil War, Baseball, and The War

America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. In this evocative and lavishly illustrated narrative, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan delve into the history of the park idea, from the first sighting by white men in 1851 of the valley that would become Yosemite and the creation of the world’s first national park at Yellowstone in 1872, through the most recent additions to a system that now encompasses nearly four hundred sites and 84 million acres.

The authors recount the adventures, mythmaking, and intense political battles behind the evolution of the park system, and the enduring ideals that fostered its growth. They capture the importance and splendors of the individual parks: from Haleakala in Hawaii to Acadia in Maine, from Denali in Alaska to the Everglades in Florida, from Glacier in Montana to Big Bend in Texas. And they introduce us to a diverse cast of compelling characters—both unsung heroes and famous figures such as John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ansel Adams—who have been transformed by these special places and committed themselves to saving them from destruction so that the rest of us could be transformed as well.

The National Parks is a glorious celebration of an essential expression of American democracy. ... Read more

Reviews

A gorgeous book on the history of the National Parks, September 20, 2009
This is a beautiful book! Mr. Duncan and Mr. Burns have done a wonderful job telling the history of our National Park system. The book clearly shows the depth of the 30-odd years that they have been working on their project. As the sub-title of the book indicates, this is "an illustrated history." The illustrations alone are worth the price of the book. You won't see the usual travel guide and brochure shots in this book. Instead you will find hundreds of historic and contemporary photos of the National Park system. I cannot imagine the amount of research that went into assembly and organizing all of these photos. They are simply gorgeous.

The text is very informative and provides you with a good history of the National Park system. You will learn a lot about the history of our nation when you read this book. Each chapter also has an interview with someone who is part of the Park Service or has close connections with the Service. These interviews (no surprise here) help bring to life that topics of the text. Being a Ken Burns project, the text tells the big story through little stories: history is personalized and seen through the eyes of the participants.

Simply put, this is a book to linger over and savor. It is a coffee table book in the truest sense: you will want to keep it within easy reach. This is a book to inspire you to daydream and ponder. It will enrich your experiences of our National Parks and you will find yourself planning years of vacations! If you have any interest in our National Park system, you must buy this book. You will not regret it for one second! Enjoy!

Great companion to the television series!, September 30, 2009
Picked up a copy of this book a few weeks ago when I saw it at my local book store. I had been looking forward to the TV series on PBS but did not know that there would also be a book. So far I have watched the first three episodes in the TV series and it appears that the book covers the same ground, but I enjoy being able to linger over the photos and I think reading the text makes a more lasting impression. This is an excellent coffee table book, most anyone will enjoy paging through it and looking at the fascinating photos. Both the book and the TV series examine and illustrate how the radical idea of persevering great tracts of America's most spectacular wild lands came to fruition. The United States was the first country in the world to have national parks. Through this book you meet the famous and not so famous folks who were committed to preserving wild places; people like John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt, and Stephen Mather. I also recommend the excellent ACROSS THE HIGH LONESOME, much of which takes place in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National parks!

An absolute treasure, September 22, 2009
Let me first point out that I'm just reviewing the companion book to Ken Burns' PBS show--having not (yet!) seen the show I make no attempt at discussing how it relates to the TV program. This is simply a look on how the book holds up on its own merits.

And let me say it is an eye-popper! As a coffee table book alone, it succeeds wildly, with all kinds of stunning photos that make you want to grab the kids and hit the road. What is particularly enjoyable is that it uses a whole range of illustrations--besides glorious contemporary photos of these magnificent landscapes, there are fascinating historic photos in B&W and photos of the various cranks, caretakers and visionaries whose lives were so deeply entwined with the park. There are also a number of beautifully reproduced photos of paintings from the Hudson River school of painting back in the mid-1800s that not only sparked interest in America's landscapes but created one of the first great artistic movements in our country.

And as always, it's amazing how landscapes can communicate such profound, and profoundly human emotions, even when there are no people depicted. The simple visual of a lone tree, buried under a heavy canopy of snow and placed against a blank winter landscape can convey loneliness on such a powerful unconscious level. Or how a sunrise on the rim of the Grand Canyon can convey majesty beyond any human description. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

But what makes this so much better than a photo essay of great landscapes is the wonderful written content that frames the illustrations. The text brings these magnificent parks back into the realm of human beings. Again and again we read about how determined individuals, communities, businesses and even bureaucrats *created* these parks, fighting tooth and nail to preserve these natural wonders for us all. Along the way we meet all kinds of fascinating people, and learn to admire their fortitude--or chuckle at their eccentricities. The text is well assembled and flows smoothly, and is as large in its scope as the Grand Canyon itself. Absolutely riveting.

But this also brilliantly shows the character of Americans--we the people. This is a tour-de-force civics lesson on patriotism, of making the country better and making the government serve us, and should be joyously read by every American. Which, I bet, was precisely Ken Burns' goal all along.

This is a book that everyone--left, right, northerner, southerner, African-American, Latino, Caucasian... EVERYONE--should love and cherish. What an incredible country we share! And what a spectacular book that does justice to it!

If You're More Into Books Than Movies..., October 20, 2009
Ken Burns is easily the cream of the crop when it comes to documentary film making (take that, Michael Moore!). The Civil War, The War, Baseball...his credentials go on and on. Each of his documentaries has been amazing in its own way. His latest film is called The National Parks and like its predecessors, it is accompanied by a coffee table book. I was rather surprised to see that book, with its $50 price tag, spring onto the list of bestsellers and remain there for a couple of weeks.

Coming in at over 400 pages and weighing about as much as a small car, The National Parks is chock full of both text and pictures. The book follows the same format as the film, offering six chapters that cover roughly the same material. Chapters average fifty or sixty pages and they are split roughly evenly between text and photographs. The text is interesting enough, describing the genesis of "America's best idea." The photographs are often stunning, showing some of the most amazing scenery America has to offer. My only complaint, if we can label it that, is that the paper used in the book could use a bit more gloss in order to really make those pictures pop. Nevertheless, even as they are, they provide amazing evidence of the beauty to be found in America's parks.

What gripped me as I read the book was the beautiful simplicity of the idea behind the National Parks. In days past and in other nations, the richest people, the most powerful people, had been able to have their nature preserves, their areas of unbroken and pure land. They had been able to set aside these little bits of paradise for themselves and had been able to enforce privacy, ensuring that the commoners were kept far away. In America, though-the land of free-vast areas of land were set aside specifically for the common man. The National Parks were to be held in trust by the nation for the benefit of all Americans in all of time. The parks were an investment in the future. One needs only look to Niagara Falls to see what happens when such stunning scenery goes unprotected. There is hardly a square inch of the Falls that is not in some way defiled, in some way exploited. It is due to the efforts of those who fought for the National Parks that Yellowstone and Yosemite and the Badlands and all these other areas remain largely undefiled. America's best idea is really in some ways her simplest. Many generations have benefited from it already and many more will continue to do so. America would not be what she is without her National Parks.

An Attractive Subject -, October 26, 2009
It's hard to go wrong providing a book about our national parks. The narrative covers the history or our parks - now numbering nearly 400 sites and 84 million acres. It is not a tour guide, nor a list of inns and lodges to stay at.

Duncan and Burns visit each of our major parks, beginning with Yosemite, telling of early travelers (James Hutchings - 1855, in the case of Yosemite) and their experiences, the efforts required to have the area set aside and preserved for everyone, and their sometimes incompetent initial administration. Perhaps surprisingly, Thomas Jefferson is included - he paid King George 20 shillings for Virginia's Natural Bridge, a limestone arch 215 feet high spanning a gorge carved by a tributary of the James River. Jefferson viewed it as a public trust, and it has since been preserved and added to our park system. Early threats to our national treasures are also covered - eg. by the 1860s every overlook on the American side of Niagara Falls was owned by a private landowner charging a fee.

Returning to Yosemite, readers also learn that John Muir applied for the job of sawmill operator at Hutchings Yosemite Inn in 1869, and went on to become our foremost naturalist. Yellowstone's initial preservation efforts benefited from a group hoping to boost volume on the planned Northern Pacific train route.

Duncan and Burns continue their story and photos - across the nation.

The National Parks America's Best Idea, October 26, 2009
The book is a thorough and comprehensive explanation of the origin and development of the National Park System. The photos are top notch. This will be a great reference book for helping to plan visits to the various national parks and other national sites.

Great look and read!, November 19, 2009
A book that will not only make you appreciate America's Greateesst natural treasures but give you a perspective that will effecct every nature walk or vacation you will ever take!

National Parks: A Real Treasure, November 16, 2009
Ken Burns has put together the face of America. He has a knack with the Civil war and Baseball, to see the impact that these subjects have to Americans and all people. Having been to the parks, he has identified the greatness of nature.hHe also sees how it impacts us all. It is truly a Gem!

awesome, October 22, 2009
I love this book, I am enjoying every minute of reading it. I am reading it in tandem with the PBS program. It is wonderful if you are a history and nature buff. I am over 50, and I think anyone over 1/2 a century old will appreciate the history and beauty of this book. My review certainly does not presume that younger people won't like the book, they will, but being able to connect my own past with the past of the National Parks System has been eye-opening for me.

A Revisit, October 22, 2009
I thoroughly enjoyed the book - as much as I did the PBS show. The book was so well written that I had a preview of each show before I watched them. Most books of this sort have a lot of good pictures, but very pedestrian text. This was a notable exception. Having visited almost all of the western parks and several others in years past, it was like reading through a family scrapbook. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Spurring on Energy Creativity, September 8, 2008
Friedman writes on world population, the increase of the global middle class, and the growing energy crisis. All of this has contributed to a world that is in desperate need of an energy solution. The thing I like about Friedman's approach is he's optimistic and he's practical. His major points are...

-- The battle over green (energy) will define the first part of the 21st century, just like the battle over red (communism) defined the last half of the 20th century.
-- Everyone needs to accept that oil will never again be cheap...
-- Off-shore drilling may be a temporary fix, but it's not the long-term solution.
-- The fossil-fuel age will end only when we invent our way out of it...
-- The last big innovation in energy production was nuclear power half a century ago, which is an important component to solving our energy problem, but we need additional solutions...
-- In order to further real innovation we need people "throwing crazy dollars at every idea, in every garage, that we have 100,000 people trying 100,000 things, five of which might work, and two might be the next green Google."
-- Friedman emphasizes the practical side of green - "It's the incredible sense of opportunity here. It's not just about saving the polar bears. It's not just about saving three generations from climate change. It's also about rising to the greatest economic opportunity that's come along in a long, long, time."

In the end, he is asking for collaboration and innovation. Of course that begs the question - where does the money come from for all of this? It's always easy to point at the government, but when we look at where real economic solutions have come from it's most often private industry. I wish Friedman would have written on how governments can create environments were private industry is incentivized to create, invent, and discover. Even so, Friedman's book is a needed wake-up call.

A useful book on energy and climate change, September 8, 2008
Overall it's a good thing that Tom Friedman has taken up the cause of renewable energy. This book is a useful contribution to the national debate over energy policy.

The cause of renewable energy should not be a "political" issue. It's an issue that liberals and conservatives should work together on. Many conservatives concerned about our country's national security are already becoming strong supporters of renewable energy here in America. I don't agree with some of Tom Friedman's past views on economics but this book quite frankly is truly inspiring (particularly the last chapter) and sets a positive tone for people to work together.

A key part of the book is the last part, specifically the last two chapters. Here's where he gets to the heart of the problem, political leadership and government policy. On page 375 he states that the needed energy revolution "will never go to the scale we need as long as our energy policy remains so ad hoc, uncoordinated". On page 407 he again emphasizes the need for a major concentration of federal government power to meet the challenge.

In his interviews with top business executives such as the CEO of General Electric Friedman makes it very clear that America is not going to be able to unlock the power of private industry in an adequate manner unless there are major changes in U.S. government energy policies.

Some say this is "tampering with the free market" but people should be aware that in energy as in all too many aspects of global environmental policy, there really is no purely "free" market. There are already huge subsidies for various industries.

It's very encouraging that the cause of American energy independence is becoming a mainstream political goal. People might also be interested in the fact that legendary oil man, Boone Pickens, is now investing huge amounts of money in renewable energy and is running ads on TV on U.S. energy policy. He has set up a web site too. Part of his energy vision can be read in his new book The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future.

I don't share a lot of Friedman's economic views but he is an intelligent journalist who previously wrote some excellent books on the Middle East. Friedman understands the disastrous geopolitical aspects of America's current addiction to foreign oil. He deserves credit for seeing that major government action is needed to reverse this.

Along with this book I would recommend Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Third Edition. I have other relevant books in the lists on my profile.

Friedman's high visibility makes this book relevant even if you don't agree with him. He has access to many important people, and their comments are in the book. Thus, the book is also a way to see what certain leadership elements think about the subjects at hand.

I would recommend buying this book.

A Doable Win-Win Plan, September 8, 2008
In Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America, Thomas Friedman presents an irresistible opportunity for Americans--one that can save the planet and increase our wealth.

The world is flat because of globalization--which is good, as ideas and practices can spread effectively. What is not so good is that our world population is exploding and countries like India and China are seeing an increase in wealth and subsequent buying power, which puts more strain on the world's resources and increases global warming.

Friedman begins the book with a discussion of how America has changed post 9/11. He uses the example of the US consulate built in 1882 in Istanbul. The consulate was built in the heart of the city: "it was an easy place for Turks to get a VISA, to peruse the library or to engage with an American diplomat."

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the building was closed and a nearly impenetrable consulate was built. This all but stopped visitors from visiting. Although the new building does protect against attacks, it isolates Americans and impacts on how we are viewed and how we see ourselves.

Friedman writes that he wrote the book because: "An American living in a defensive crouch cannot fully tap the vast rivers of idealism, innovation, volunteerism, and philanthropy that still flow through our nation. And it cannot play the vital role it has long played for the rest of the world--as a beacon of hope and the country that we can always be counted on to lead the world in response to whatever is the most important challenge of the day."

That challenge is global warming. He proposes we begin a massive project called "code green."

Friedman identifies three broad trends in our society:
1. The post 9/11 building of walls around us to protect Americans from foreigners.
2. Since the 1980's, politicians acting "dumb as we wanna be," meaning we will get to fixing the roads, global warming and other issues when we get around to it. This includes politicians like Bush "protecting us" from gas taxes and other unpleasantries to keep our standard of living, or the fact that we are in war and don't have to make any sacrifices (save the soldier's lives.)
3. Nation building at home. This is the one good trend Friedman sees and he writes about the plethora of innovative, imaginative souls who devote their energy to finding green solutions.

Friedman considers what is now called the green movement to be more like a green party. He cites several "green" books that include the words "easy" or "lazy" in the titles. The authors write books where: "everyone is a winner, nobody gets hurt and nobody has to do anything hard." I have read several of these books and agree--much of the advice is fluff.

However, I do see the recent deluge of books and articles on sustainability as changing the consciousness and buying habits of the country. Many people who begin by making "painless changes" get serious about the environment and one or two of them may be the next inventor of the solar-run car. I also believe that when millions cut down on the use of plastic and other nonrenewable resources, that it does make an environmental difference.

The increase in population and wealth and buying power all tax our already limited supply of petroleum, coal and gas--all substances that cause global warming and pollute our planet. Even if you didn't "believe" in global warming, it is a fact that petroleum--now needed in unprecedented amounts--is rapidly becoming an increasingly difficult product to procure. If you think spending $5.00 a gallon for gas for your car is a hardship, that price will be considered nothing in a few years. Folks, we are running out of time and oil.

Friedman gets that Americans can use the diminishing supply of nonrenewable resources as a means for an economic boom, for bridging the widening gap between Americans and the rest of the world and for drawing us together as a nation. Americans are an innovative and smart bunch of people and we need to get working on devising clean alternatives to fossil fuels. This will create more jobs, strong economic times and raised spirits.

Friedman presents a doable, win-win plan to raise wealth and to save the planet. A must-read.

By the author of the award winning book, HARMONIOUS ENVIRONMENT: BEAUTIFY, DETOXIFY & ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE, YOUR HOME & YOUR PLANET.

Top-down vision that avoids some fundamental issues, September 12, 2008
If you're not yet convinced that climate change is real or needs urgent and radical attention, this vision of a flat world -- with America on top -- may be able to change your mind. Maybe, thanks to huge sales, this book will able to open a lot of minds that needed opening; and that would be a good thing. Unfortunately, it won't open them quite far enough. While faulting others for not confronting the tough issues around climate change, Thomas Friedman (TF) avoids many of them himself.

Other reviews summarize some of the book's main themes. This long review will deal with some of TF's more striking arguments, good and bad, that most others have not yet commented on.

A. GOOD POINTS

Some points I especially liked: It's great that TF is so explicit about his exasperation at magazine articles and books offering glib solutions like "205 easy ways to go green." He'd prefer our leaders "propose the one or two hard ways that could actually make a difference" (@ 400). His proposal for how a Presidential candidate might defend the idea of a carbon tax (@265f) is what we ought to be hearing now, instead of "Drill, baby, drill!" His description of why the US military is enthusiastic about going green (@ 317-322) is fascinating. And he bravely makes strong arguments that government regulation can be a good thing in appropriate circumstances.

B. THE POINT OF GOING GREEN IS ... REGIME CHANGE?

One curious feature of TF's argument is its emphasis on America's going green as a means of promoting change in other countries. TF's "Laws of Petropolitics" (Ch. 4) purport to show how "freedom" (or sometimes "the pace of freedom" (@96)) in certain oil-producing countries waxes and wanes inversely with the price of oil. (I won't dwell on the speciousness of the graphs, which use undefined units and misleadingly truncated axes for "freedom," which is sometimes political and sometimes economic.) America should reduce its demand for oil because of our "need to drive reform in the Arab-Muslim world" (@108; I suppose that means we think non-Arab Iran is OK as is).

Moreover, new American technologies will reduce "energy poverty" in poor countries and enable the next Thomas Edison or Sally Ride who may be living there (Ch. 7 & @164). And the Chinese leadership will give its people freedom of speech because of our threats to "outgreen" that country (Ch. 16, esp. @ 367). Aside from these notes of noblesse oblige, TF's vision of other countries is only as competitors to America, not people with whom we should be cooperating (e.g., "America wins! America wins! America wins!" @ 242).

What does America get out of this? The first chapter promises to show how going green will lead to "nation-building in America" (@9). But TF never returns to that topic; the impacts on America that he describes all seem to be economic. He also promises we'll get "more and more knowledge-intensive green-collar technology jobs - which are more difficult to outsource" (@23). What do these turn out to be? Construction jobs installing solar panels and retrofitting buildings (@338).

C. GREEN'S IMPACT ON INCOME INEQUALITY

TF seems blind about the issue of income inequality, especially within nations. Only four pages of the book (< 1% of the text) even come close to talking about income inequality in America; these take the form of an interview with a community activist from Oakland, CA (@335-339). Those construction jobs are the punch line, presented as a boon to the urban poor. How about the rest of the book?

(1) TF regales us with a long utopian fantasy about the snazzy technology and perfectly working markets (unlike any in real life) of the "Energy Internet" (@224-236). He imagines "you" as having a real estate development job that you can telecommute to most days of the week. Too bad for folks who have manufacturing or minimum wage jobs, like the folks who flip your burgers; I guess he expects they won't read the book. Moreover, TF is excited by the idea that someday we'll all lease our household appliances instead of owning them (@71). A society of a few who own and the many who rent, even at the most basic levels of daily life? Sounds less like science fiction and more like a Charles Dickens novel.

(2) TF enthuses about imposing a $5-$10 per gallon tax on gasoline, and using that money to offset payroll taxes (@262). Let's check the math. When I lived in Silicon Valley, I went through about 20 gallons of gas per week - and I had a home office. TF's gas tax would have cost me $5K-$10K per year (to say nothing of higher pre-tax prices per gallon). Plenty of folks commute more than 1 hour per day, because their jobs don't pay them enough to afford to live in the communities where they work; but let's assume they use only as much gas as I did. According to the 2008 US tax tables, a head of household earning even $43K won't have $10K of tax to offset. Even a married couple filing jointly with income over $60K won't have that much payroll tax - but they might have to pay the gas tax for two cars.

(3) How about the day-trading class? According to TF, stock bubbles "have actually been a key driver of America's remarkable record of economic growth and innovation" (@259). The "overinvestment of billions of dollars in fiber-optic cable" left the infrastructure for low-cost Internet services after the bubble's 'pop'(@258). BTW, as I recall, that pop also resulted in a huge wave of job loss. It also wiped out the small investors who didn't have privileged access to IPOs, or the inside information to lead them to bail out ahead of the game. I suppose TF likes neutron bombs, too. And despite this, Americans' Internet access speeds are still way slower than those enjoyed in Japan and Korea.

(4) To be fair, TF is almost as blind about the poor in foreign countries. His fantasy beneficiary of green technology in the developing world is "Senhor Verde" (a Brazilian 'Mr. Green'), who has a 1,000 acre farm, with high-tech tractors and sprinkler system. But the mean size of a farm in Brazil is < 150 acres; and as a mean, that number is inflated upwards by some megafarms. Roughly 40% of Brazilian farms are under 10 (ten) acres. In Africa and many Asian countries, that percentage is closer to 80%-90%. See, e.g., the paper "Farm size" by Eastwood & al. of University of Sussex (2004), available in draft online. Bottom line: when TF talks about Mr. Green, he's talking about a rich dude.

TF's vision for the foreign poor is data centers set up by outsourcing companies, such as one he saw in a village in India (@166-169). One of his interviewees tells him, "[I]n the village, no one gives up these jobs." I'll bet. But keeping their jobs isn't necessarily up to them. Outsourcing work is especially vulnerable to being moved around the globe, according to the whims of the market forces that TF extols. See, e.g., Andrew Ross's outstanding "Fast Boat to China: Corporate Flight and the Consequences of Free Trade" (2006).

D. UNASKED QUESTIONS AND UNPURSUED CONCLUSIONS

The deepest problem is that TF doesn't question his key assumptions or pursue his arguments to their logical conclusions. Especially, he doesn't question whether American-style market capitalism might be part of the problem, beyond the fact that it relies on heat-based energy sources.

(1) GROWTH & GDP: "I start from the bedrock principle that we as a global society need more and more growth, because without growth there is no human development and those in poverty will never escape it" (@186). Growth in what? "Economic growth" usually means growth in GDP, and TF never indicates he means something else (see also his discussion of China @ 345f). The usual assumption (not stated by TF) is that higher GDP per capita (GDP/C) is associated with higher "welfare" or "well-being".

TF says "Too many environmentalists oppose *any* growth, a position that locks the poor into poverty" (@194). This is painting with a broad brush. First of all, GDP/C numbers don't tell you anything about how wealth is distributed. As Warren Buffett gets richer, our mean GDP/C goes up, but that doesn't mean your income goes up. In fact, check Wikipedia on "Median household income": although US GDP/C grew 67% since 1980, median real household income went up by only about 15%. Real median income is lower now than in 1999 - i.e., at least half of us are worse off since then, despite growth. Second, TF's blind eye overlooks that income inequality has been growing within nations, including the US. Based on US Census Bureau's computed Gini Index for 2007 (46.3), we're by far the most unequal of all developed countries. So it's not obvious exactly what growing GDP or GDP/C does for the poor.

Moreover, TF doesn't mention that GDP/C can grow because of bad stuff, such as the costs of treating disease and cleaning up pollution - not really well-being at all. Or that the supposed relationship between GDP/C and happiness as measured in surveys is at most a correlation -- not a causation, as TF's comment suggests. (Or that whether such a correlation exists at all is highly contested among researchers, and that even the papers arguing most strongly for it ignore other obvious factors, such the relationship between happiness and recovery from a devastating war.) Or that despite growth, income inequality can lead to unhappiness because of perceived relative differences, even if everyone's income is improving in an absolute sense.

Since so much of the book's attention is on America, not a "global society," you'd think that TF might specifically address the question of how growth benefits Americans. But aside from mentioning that to turn off growth would be "political suicide" for politicians (@64), he's mum on the issue. Bottom line from TF: growth is good for poor people somewhere, and for politicians in the US (or maybe everywhere).

(2) GROWTH & CONSUMPTION: TF is a fan of consumption. He argues, through the mouths of interviewees, that consumption is necessary to grow the economy (@194), that we can "consume more and conserve more at the same time" (id.), and that with the right carpet design, "not only would you be able to change your carpet as often as you wanted without guilt, but you'd be producing massive amounts of jobs in America" (@71). As for energy, he wants to see "huge demand - *crazy, wild, off-the-charts demand*" for clean power technologies (@244; emphasis in original). His Energy Internet technotopia is a paradise for consumers who love to choose service plans.

An interesting irony is that TF sees the main obstacles to changing America's energy mindset as lobbyists and failed political leadership (Ch. 17). Some American scholars of politics have observed that the same market forces that maximize our opportunities as consumers have sapped our power to effect political change as citizens, especially in the past 40 years or so. See, e.g., R. Dahl's "On Political Inequality" (2006) and "On Democracy" (1998), and R. Reich's "Supercpitalism" (2007). TF never questions whether the ultra-consumerism for which he cheerleads could be contributing to the political problem he complains about.

But considering that TF's theme is energy, it's also ironic that he ignores economists like Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen and Herman Daly, who have pointed out that unbounded growth and consumption run afoul of the laws of thermodynamics. Economic processes aren't different from any other kind of activity, in that they all produce physical waste, in the form of heat or stuff. Just as you can't have a perpetual motion machine, you can't recyle all of that heat or stuff. The more stuff you consume (or produce), the more waste that results. (Note that Communism, which emphasizes unlimited production, is no less dumb than gonzo capitalism in this regard.)

Yet while TF often stresses the urgency of addressing our energy problems -- e.g., quoting Dana Meadows, "We have exactly enough time, starting now" (@170) -- he doesn't want us to "opt for the drastic" by make any "radical changes in lifestyle" just yet (@194). Though he mocks others for their "easy" ways of going green, his prefers to stick his head in the sand rather than to ask whether our lifestyle has any physical limits.

(3) ARE WE REALLY GROWING ANYWAY?: I was very happy to see TF criticize economists' use of the word "externalities" to describe pollution, waste and CO2 emissions (@260). That terminology disguises such problems as trivial annoyances. Farther down the page TF says "We have been fooling ourselves with fraudulent accounting by not pricing those externalities. ... We rack up stunning profits and GDP numbers every year, and they look great on paper `because we've been hiding some of the costs off the books'. Mother Nature has not been fooled" (@260). Right on.

But now, as the Talmud says, let your ears hear what your mouth is saying. If our growth figures are "fraudulent" because we don't consider the true costs of pollution, biodiversity loss, etc., who's to say our economy is truly growing anyway? Or that the American versions of market capitalism and consumer lifestyle, both of which TF so staunchly defends, are really defensible?

E. CONCLUDING COMMENTS

I won't dwell on the many small quirky things that none of the zillions of people thanked at the end of the book were able to persuade TF to change, such as a mistake about when the current millennium began (@47) or an overly exuberant reference to "10,000 inventors working in 10,000 companies and 10,000 garages and 10,000 laboratories" (@ 244 - each of these people has a garage AND a lab AND a company?). But it's interesting that among those zillions of names the only Europeans seem to be some folks from a Dutch oil company.

Interesting because many of the questions TF doesn't ask are being asked in Europe. And not just from the political left. TF mentions French President Sarkozy as an admirer of America (@ 177). That same rightist politician has asked two US-based Nobel laureate economists to come up with an alternative to GDP, in order to get a better measure of well-being and happiness. Moreover, many European thinkers on issues of energy, economic growth and ecology (among them Andr� Gorz, Dominique M�da, Alain Gras) often start from a deep analysis of the nature of human work, and its spiritual meaning. TF's approach, in contrast, is entirely materialistic and technocratic. [UPDATE 2009/09: Two pertinent reports available online are the March 2009 report "Prosperity without growth?" from the UK Sustainable Development Commission, and the September 14, 2009 final report of the Stiglitz Commission appointed by Pres. Sarkozy. While the Stiglitz Commission focused more on measurement issues than on policy, the UK SDC report questions the policy of growth in great detail.]

The problem of human survival in the face of global climate change seems to call for cooperation, and some reflection about what we really want life to be. TF's proposal instead is for America to overwhelm other countries in international competition, with the help of market forces and smart appliances. Are "out-greening al-Qaeda" and "America wins!" really the best attitudes with which to approach this challenge facing all humanity (and, thanks to us, much of the rest of life on earth)? It's not clear to me that this is even good for Americans. We're humans, too, not just consumers and innovators.

I hope TF will win over some skeptics about climate change. But if we don't think more deeply, critically and globally about the solutions than he has, we could end up in a world that's hot, flat, crowded, hostile and lost.

Too much book, too little value, September 27, 2008
Tom Friedman has a great vision of future economic growth driven by energy technology. I enjoy reading his columns and watching his interviews. However, this book is far too long to get his message across clearly. I feel like have the book is him quoting experts to make an obvious point. For example, do we really need a whole chapter on biodiversity loss and his travels around the world to be convinced that there is a biodiversity problem? He takes far too long to get to his original (and valuable) ideas. I can read long books, but by page 150 (out of 400) I felt like I had read a lot but not gotten a lot that was new to anybody paying attention to climate change/environmental news at all. My advice to readers is to save their money and simply take a look at Friedman's past interviews and op-eds (all available online) to get his message.

Deeply Intriguing Ideas Buried by Breezy Style, November 20, 2008
Thomas Friedman's writing is new to me, and from the glowing reviews of this book I expected a little bit more. [Update to review: Deserves 4 stars.] I'm a climate change professional and one of those "revolutionary bureaucrats" that he praises in his book for doing the real work in protecting human health and the environment (thank you, Mr. Friedman), and I agree with 95 percent of his ideas and solutions - especially placing the true price of dirty fuel back onto the consumer (only then will people choose clean energy over dirty fuels). I originally gave this book three stars mostly because it felt like a review of things I've already read, and it could have been written a little better. However, the book earns five stars if it's one of your first three books on the impacts of global warming.

Although the book puts together important ideas, my primary disappointment with the book is that it reads like one especially long newspaper article, very light and breezy, and almost glib in tone at times. A much better book if you want more on climate change and its impacts upon human societies is "Hell and High Water - Global Warming, the Solution and the Politics - and What We Should Do" by Joseph Romm.

I've also read thousand-page compendiums on climate change, so to me, the science of global warming is incontrovertible. That part of his book didn't require convincing for me. I'm not an economist, so I could not evaluate his economical solutions to the degree I'd like, although I do agree that externalities should be included back into the price of everything, especially chemicals, fuels, or processes that are harmful to the environment. One of my main disagreements I have with Mr. Friedman is that growth in the third world is necessary or good. Even the author admits that the world can't sustain any more Americas.

At least Mr. Friedman is exactly spot on about how the "green revolution" is more of a "green party", where everybody gets to feel good without actually accomplishing anything. If we want to keep the world livable for us humans, I'm certain that big changes, painful changes will have to take place.

I am also fairly certain that voluntary behavior change will not be enough to limit carbon dioxide emissions into the air. Which do you think is easier?
1): Convince the average motorist that high-mileage hybrid vehicles are the best vehicle to buy (even though they cost more upfront); or
2): Mandate higher minimum fuel efficiency standards that all vehicles must meet.

Personally, I know fuel efficiency standards work, because they worked in the 1970s very well. As for voluntary behavior, what is the market penetration of hybrid vehicles? A lot less than 5 percent. I'm an environmentalist, but I will not buy a hybrid until the price of gas becomes very, very, expensive.

Stay tuned, I think climate change is the most important story of our times. In a few years, the economic downturn (in late 2008) will be in the past, gasoline will be at $7 to $8 per gallon, and we will still be trying to keep the planet from turning into a desert - only the later we start to make meaningful change, the more difficult it becomes.

Hugely disappointed, June 20, 2009
I was expecting this book to start talking about some solutions at least at the half way mark but it goes on and on giving examples after examples of how each part of the world is now hot flat and crowded. I think most of us got that point very early on in the book but the repetition was just not necessary unless there was a word or page target that Thomas Friedman was aiming for. By the time I reached to the solutions part, I was taken straight into this futuristic place where you had the intelligent grid that would reduce our energy consumption and solve all our energy problems. As I said earlier I was expecting to see varied solutions but was disappointed to go through so much repetitive info that i had no patience at the end to finish the last part.

A manifesto for our times, November 17, 2008
What a timely book! Following an election in which the future of the planet was hotly debated, the market is ripe for this accessible yet information-packed treatise on the perilous state of the environment, how we got here and how we must proceed if we are to avoid catastrophe.

Thomas L. Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign affairs journalist for the New York Times, is known for his ability to synthesize information from diverse sources. He uses the first half of the book to thoroughly convince us that we do indeed have a problem, and a very grave one. In his past books, Friedman has argued that globalization is "flattening" the world, making competition between countries more possible and more fair. China and India's booming economies are giving millions more people opportunities to move up to the middle class. These millions feel they deserve a better life --- better being defined as more comfortable, consuming more resources like their American brothers and sisters.

The problem is that we are quickly running out of the cheap, dirty fuel that allowed the first world countries to develop. But increasing carbon dioxide emissions from dirty fuels like oil and coal are contributing to what Friedman terms "global weirding." Add to this mix burgeoning population growth, and you get a world that is hot, flat and crowded. Friedman provides plenty of scientific support to back up his claims that life as we know it (cheap gas, cheap energy, a human-friendly climate) is endangered, one way or another. As he puts it, "if we don't make the hard choices, nature will make them for us."

The second half of the book is a guided tour through what some of those "hard choices" may be. "Green" must be more than a fad, he argues, and every magazine article that touts "easy" ways to save the planet does a disservice by trivializing what may in fact be deadly serious. Yet Friedman believes we are up to the task and that America must lead the way in both innovation and conservation. He describes a new Energy-Climate era in which information technology meets energy technology. In his vision, our washer, dryer and refrigerator become smart appliances that communicate with a revolutionized energy grid to buy electrons when they are cheapest. No matter whether our cars are plugged in at home or in a parking lot, they can both buy and sell electricity, depending on whether they need it or have it.

But to get to this sustainable utopia, our government and culture need to make investments now. We have to engineer our economy so that alternative energy innovations are made because industry knows they will be competitive. If that means keeping gasoline prices above $4/gallon in order to do so, so be it. If we doubt that will work, we need only look to Europe, where gas prices are astronomical and small, energy-efficient cars are the norm.

America must lead, Friedman argues, or we'll be forced to play catch-up with China and India. He introduces us to some American companies and universities already innovating toward a clean, sustainable future and examines what other countries are doing as well. We need a course correction, and with HOT, FLAT, AND CROWDED, Friedman has provided a manifesto for our times.

--- Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol

Hot, Flat, and Crowded, February 15, 2009
The central argument in this book is that the market does not efficiently allocate investment to cleaner alternative fuels because of externalities associated with use of "dirty" fossil fuels. Externalities, in this context, are costs that are not paid by fuel consumers but rather by society as a whole (pollution) or even by future generations (climate change caused by CO2 emissions). Market participants don't factor these costs into their decisions because they don't have to pay them. This market failure creates an opportunity for the government to increase efficiency by raising the price of carbon-based fuels so that the price paid by consumers reflects their full cost to society. When alternative fuels are more price competitive, R&D will increase, and advances in technology will bring down the cost of alternative fuels. This is an eminently reasonable argument, and Friedman also does a good job of explaining how high oil prices strengthen authoritarian leaders in oil-rich states.

Much of the rest of his book is not as valuable. Friedman is highly critical of market processes - he sees market failures everywhere - but he seems to lose his critical judgment when he looks at government processes. He wants "revolutionary bureaucrats" to assume a much larger role in shaping investment decisions, but he blithely assumes that regulators are farsighted technocrats rather than self-interested political actors. Elsewhere, Friedman laments the need to obtain the support of citizens for initiatives that they will pay for. An entire chapter is dedicated to a fantasy that a benevolent dictator - whose views are identical to Friedman's - might dramatically increase environmental regulation over fossil fuels while weakening environmental regulation over nuclear power, electricity transmission lines, and the other infrastructure that Friedman needs to achieve his vision for a United States powered by "clean electrons."

Many of his arguments might also be criticized as poorly supported or unbalanced. Friedman is a popularizer and explainer, and the standard of evidence in a popular book need not be as high as in a book aimed at specialists. Still, his standard does not rise much above "I think that ..." or "someone I interviewed thinks that ...." This might not be such a big problem except that Friedman only interviews people that he agrees with. For example, in advocating that the news media should more actively promote the link between human activity and climate change, he cites the views of former Clinton administration official Jospeh Romm, who thinks that the news media underplay the link because they are overly concerned with their role as "honest brokers" of information. Maybe Romm and Friedman believe this, but I would guess that most people take a more skeptical view of our news media. Elsewhere, Friedman asserts that the "worst" fossil fuel companies "know their products are as harmful to society and the planet as cigarette smoking." This is a surprising statement, and it might even be true, but Friedman does not present any evidence for it. As a final example, Friedman calls Hurricane Katrina a "flashing red light" alerting us to global warming. Maybe Friedman is right, but in the absence of any evidence, readers might well conclude that the link he draws between climate change and this specific storm is speculative.

can the laggard lead?, November 11, 2008
When my family was in Germany in 1990, our friends pulled up to a stop light and obeyed a traffic signal that instructed them to turn off the engine to save fuel and spare the air. Brazil and Denmark have already attained energy independence from Middle East oil. Japan and Europe have fuel economy standards of 35 miles per gallon; the United States won't match that until 2020. In 2004, demand for scrap metal in China was so strong that manhole covers started disappearing from around the world; thieves stole them, chopped them up, and sold them to China. 150 covers went missing in Chicago. Every mile you drive your car you emit a pound of CO2 into the air (and China is adding 14,000 cars every day to its roads). Welcome to what Thomas Friedman calls Code Green.

Friedman has his critics. His breezy style, jingoistic cheerleading, and free market optimism about profit-motives can be irritating. Others haven't forgiven him for supporting the Iraq war or for his rosy prognosis about globalization. He has a whole chapter in his newest book about why going green will never be easy, but he specifically denies that Americans need to cut their consumption habits because he believes that capitalism can grow a bigger and cleaner pie for all. Everyone knows that America is by far the biggest eco-laggard, but he insists that we can be the world's leader. In a critical review in The New York Review of Books (November 6, 2008: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22027), Bill McKibben describes Friedman's vision as a "green fantasia." In the New Yorker (November 10, 2008), Ian Parker contrasts Friedman's carefully crafted persona as your Average Neighbor with his own eco-footprint, namely, the 11,400 square foot mansion he and his wife built a few years ago.

Still, if our country has any hope for mobilizing the general public in an environmental movement that would match the urgency of the civil rights movement, Thomas Friedman is probably as good as it gets. He's won three Pulitzer Prizes, and his books have been translated into thirty-four languages. He's done his homework and traversed the globe. For many readers, whatever Friedman writes deserves careful attention, and with the current crisis that's a good thing.

The "flattening" of the world that he described in The World is Flat (which has sold four million copies), global warming, and the population explosion all converge, says Friedman, to create five key problems -- energy and natural resource supply and demand, petrodictatorships, climate change, energy poverty, and biodiversity loss. His book describes these problems with a blizzard of anecdotes, facts and figures, and then proposes how we can address them. Friedman sees both a global obligation but also a national opportunity for America to renew itself. There are many moving parts that must act in concert toward the same goal -- governments, international treaties, free market and profit-motivated innovators, laws and legislators on the international, national and local levels, industry regulators, NGOs, personal virtue, civic activism, and bold leadership. Friedman describes himself as a "sober optimist," but he admits that there's a very thin line between dire pessimism that we've reached an irreversible tipping point due to apathy and inaction, and optimism that human ingenuity can rise to the occasion. ... Read more

Editorial Review

For the first time, HRH The Prince of Wales shares his views on how our most pressing modern challenges—from climate change to poverty—are rooted in mankind's disharmony with nature, presenting a compelling case that the solution lies in our ability to regain a balance with the world around us

With its holistic approach, this provocative and well-reasoned book takes the discussion of sustainability and climate change in a new direction. Prince Charles shows how the solutions to problems like climate change lie not only in technology but in our ability to change the way we view the modern world.

For decades, the Prince of Wales has been studying a wide array of disciplines to understand every aspect of man's impact on the natural world, and in that time he has examined everything from architecture to organic farming to sustainable economics. Now, for the first time, he speaks out about his years of research, presenting a fascinating look at how modern industrialization has led us to a state of disharmony with nature, created climate change, and pushed us to the brink of disaster.

From the rice farms of India to the prairies of America's corn belt, from the temples of Ancient Egypt to the laboratories of industrial designers, Harmony spans the globe to identify the different ways that contemporary life has abandoned the hard-earned practices of our history, a shift that has spurred a host of social problems and accelerated climate change.

Drawing on cases from farming, healthcare, transportation, and design, the Prince of Wales also offers solutions for change, creating a new vision for our world, one that incorporates the traditional wisdom of our past with the modern science of our present to avert catastrophe. In the end, Harmony paints a holistic portrait of what we as a species have lost in the modern age, while outlining the steps we can take to regain the harmony of our ancestors.

Illustrated with lush, four-color photographs and charts, this intelligent, practical, and well-reasoned guide is an indispensable weapon in the battle to save our planet.

Reviews

A brilliant thinker and visionary, November 12, 2010
The author, often maligned and trivialized by the press, shows himself here to be a serious thinker, writer, historian and visionary. I believe he is the best product of the British monarchy to emerge in the past two hundred years.

His book clearly analyzes the root causes of our separation from a state of harmony, and predicts the consequences of this estrangement from the natural world. Widely read himself, he interjects his personal thoughts and opinions into the narrative, thereby creating an informal approach to what could have been a dry text.

I love this book. lt inspires me to do the right thing, to pay attention not only to our built environment but also to keep trying to connect my spirit to my actions.

Outstanding Perspectives and Pertinent Thoughts, November 2, 2010
Utterly engrossed from the first page to the last. Did not want to put it down.

Prince Charles is BRILLIANT about nature and the environment and yes, how people act in relationship to that. OH MY. Am so glad that he has written this and it will be available for so many people to discover and enjoy and benefit from.
Finally someone who thinks like me but says it far more eloquently:)

I wish everyone thought like him, we would have such a better world, not just physically, but in terms of understanding and perception and cooperation with Earth. He really sees the connections that are so important to not only surviving but thriving for our ecology and world, in many aspects, from animals to plants to architecture to spirituality.

I can almost forgive him for Camilla reading this book. And if she understood him -- and Diana didn't, for the first time I can see why he wanted to be with Canilla because of her personality, and how she made him feel so good.

His viewpoint is far advanced beyond accepted science and industry's ineffective ways.

Wow.

He is really, really, really wise. I hope this book makes people think, and even more than that, encourages them to adopt some of the ideas he suggest with such good sense behind them.
If Prince William follows in his father's footsteps with this, it would be wonderful as well.

Wonderful Insight, November 19, 2010
I am extremely impressed with this book and have a whole new respect for Prince Charles. The man is brilliant and he cares. I think this is a must read for all and would love to see it in the classroom. I completely agree that most of our problems are because we do not live in Harmony with nature. Our world was created by a God who has all the answers, who has given us all the answers within nature, if we would only listen.

Surprise - excellent book on an important topic - by Prince Charles!, November 16, 2010
[This review has turned into something of an essay - but it was the only way I could express my opinion on a topic raised by the book that is very close to my heart and that I think is of great importance. If you just want to read the strictly "review" parts, they are contained in the first three and the last two paragraphs.]

The Prince of Wales (much to my surprise, I admit) persuasively demonstrates that the principles of harmony found in Nature can and should be incorporated into all aspects of modern life because doing so will not only make our lives environmentally sustainable, but will vastly increase our well-being in virtually every way possible. It is a beautiful vision, beautifully expressed and makes me wonder why this side of Prince Charles has been so ignored in the media (at least in the US). Clearly, he has been working hard to advance this timeliest of visions for several decades now, but I don't think many people over here are very aware of it. A true media cover-up!

The book begins by describing the principles of harmony as found in the natural world and how these principles were embedded very explicitly in the outlook, arts, and architecture of all traditional and classical civilizations (of both East and West), goes on to trace how these principles were abandoned as a result of the shift to a reductionistic-mechanistic outlook on life brought about by the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries, and then provides numerous examples of how some people are beginning to reincorporate the principles of harmony back into various aspects of modern life, from agriculture to town planning to education to health care and so on, often with many rippling and self-multiplying positive results. This is really good, solid, and inspiring stuff, all the way through. (Other wonderful books that explore similar themes include The Power of Limits by Gyorgy Doczi; The Old Way of Seeing by Jonathan Hale; and The Return of Sacred Architecture by Herbert Bangs.)

The book then concludes with an excellent and essential chapter on how simply having intellectual knowledge of the principles of harmony is not enough; we must also feel them - must feel our intimate, sacred relationship with the earth directly from within. I could not agree more with this - and yet this brings me to the one criticism I have of Harmony.

The one thing that I would say is missing from the Prince's vision, which I believe undermines his whole message, is the recognition that civilized life has, from its very inception, always disrupted the very root or foundation of our ability to live in alignment with natural principles of harmony, that foundation being precisely the ability to feel harmony from within.

At the very beginning of civilization - following the Agricultural Revolution, which took place approximately 10,000 years ago - humans made the first, most fundamental, and most crucial shift away from living in harmony with Nature. What occurred then is that, due to the completely new requirements imposed by agricultural life, societies for the first time stopped being able to fully meet the specific needs of our genetically pre-programmed childhood developmental process - a process of parent-child (and society-child) interaction that had been honed to perfection over millions of years of evolution in small hunter-gatherer bands. This break with our evolutionary past is what initially disrupted our ability to feel - intuitively, from within - how to live in harmony with Nature. This one shift paved the way for the gradual decline in harmony that then culminated - rather than originated - in the Scientific Revolution that ushered in the modern era. (Jean Liedloff's The Continuum Concept describes many essential differences between aboriginal and civilized child-rearing; and Paul Shepard's many books, like The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game, provide an overall picture of what was lost in this transition.)

Even though the Prince does rightly acknowledge that harmony has to come from within, the question remains, "How, specifically, does this work?" I would suggest that it is not, primarily, through verbal education, instruction, or training; not even through non-verbal or non-rational religious rites and observances. These may all eventually play a role, but only if they build on an already existing foundation for harmony, which can only be created through the directly felt experience of being met and supported, from earliest infancy, by behaviors - from parents and all other members of society - that dovetail harmoniously with our emerging developmental needs. When a child consistently feels the "rightness" of needs arising from within and proper responses coming from without and the harmonious growth to which this gives rise, then a felt sense of harmony becomes imprinted deep within - an imprint to which that individual will remain true throughout life, in all circumstances. This, I believe, is the missing key to the seemingly effortless and automatic harmonious living seen in aboriginal society. The stories and folklore to which the Prince attributes the harmony of aboriginal society very likely does build on and reinforce this primary, inner, felt sense of harmony; but no verbal thought system can create this where that felt foundation does not already exist. Without the felt experience of harmony imbibed from the age before conscious thought develops, conscious thought can never play its proper, harmony-reinforcing role because it will have no proper foundation on which to rest. There will be very little harmony there to reinforce.

This ability to live in harmony on a moment-to-moment, spontaneous basis can only come from knowing what it feels like to have been raised in harmony on a moment-to-moment, spontaneous basis. We have to feel it from within first, before we can live it in the world outside; and being raised harmoniously - in accordance with specific needs unfolding on a specific developmental timetable - from the beginning of life is the way Nature makes this possible. This alone leads to the balanced, full unfolding of our psyches, which is what then allows us to continually feel harmony from within and to act accordingly, moment-to-moment, throughout our lives. The processes that we now call "child-rearing" and "education" in the modern world do not even come close to meeting the full range of our specific developmental needs. It is not enough simply to speak of "loving" our children or "giving them the best of everything" if this does not include meeting their needs as Nature has specified.

If this inner, felt sense of harmony is lost then all is lost because this inner sense is the first rung on the great ladder of harmony that humans are meant to climb over the course of their lives. When this first rung is taken away, and our inner connection to harmony is broken, then, at best, we can only stand back and perhaps admire harmony and nature from afar, as a mental, philosophical, or aesthetic object. But this rational admiring of external harmony - as exemplified by classical civilizations - noble as it seems, is actually the first rung on a ladder of disharmony that leads us downwards and eventually ends in our forgetting harmony altogether. When we are not connected to harmony from within by that strongest bond devised by Nature then harmony stops being the ultimately compelling guiding force that it should be. Other forces - darker forces, greedy forces, narrow-minded forces - no longer kept in check by a felt sense of harmony are then free to gain ascendancy.

In the classical and traditional civilizations that the Prince holds up as models for us to draw upon, awareness of the principles of harmony had long since shifted largely from the intuitively felt realm (as modeled by aboriginal hunter-gatherers) to the rational-intellectual realm. Although traditional civilizations did embody these principles of harmony in their art, architecture, and philosophy, never again did they manage to embody them in their day-to-day, moment-to-moment lives and interactions with each other, the environment, and the cosmos to the same extent as is seen in aboriginal society, as the Prince himself acknowledges to an extent (p. 90, "the transmission of these shared insights...is often to be found weaving precariously alongside the many horrors and atrocities that fill our history books").

That this crucial ability to instinctively feel how to live in harmony - and the genetically cued developmental process that supports it - even exists is largely unknown in the modern world because our civilized belief systems have so thoroughly obscured what was lost in the transition from hunting-gathering to civilized life. So we do not see that the particular specialty of aboriginal life is that it so faithfully and assiduously trusts and honors the perfection of our evolved natures and arranges life in such a way as to always make possible the meeting of each person's genetically pre-programmed needs at each stage of the life cycle. We do not see how, as a result of this, aboriginal peoples (far from living the desperate, brutish lives falsely imagined for them by civilized peoples) naturally embed the same principles of harmony found in civilized art and architecture in their myths, stories, and dances, in their totemic kinship systems, in their hunting and gathering practices, in their initiatory rites, and in their overall life-patterns. And we do not see how all of this allows them to maintain a genuine, practical, and ongoing harmony at all levels: the individual, the clan-tribe-society, the environment, and the cosmos. Agricultural-civilized peoples, from the beginning, have always - at least to some extent - tried to make themselves Nature's masters, rather than Her ardent followers, and have therefore never fully practiced the principles of harmony that they (sometimes) preached. In this context, the Prince's assertions that the wisdom of primary peoples is of the same nature and quality as that encoded in civilized religious traditions (see p. 297 for example), although true to an extent, actually reinforces our cultural inability to distinguish between ways of living that are faithful to our developmental needs, and that therefore rest on a solid foundation, and those that are not and do not. This is what I believe undermines, to a significant degree, the very shift towards harmonious living for which the Prince argues so passionately and persuasively.

None of this is to suggest that we should all return to hunting and gathering. I am only suggesting that, if we truly want to transform the way we live in an all-encompassing, holistic way that extends to our moment-to-moment thinking, perceiving, and acting, then we must first understand the specific difference between the way people are raised in aboriginal and civilized societies and then find a way to once again support the emergence of our felt, inner sense of harmony. This is the essential thing.

Nonetheless, the Prince does very skillfully show how awareness of the principles of harmony is necessary for creating a sustainable way of life, how those principles have been encoded and expressed in the art and architecture of the traditional and classical civilizations, how our having lost touch with them contributes to the environmental crisis now threatening all life on the planet, how we might begin to bring these principles back into our lives, and why this would make our lives, not just environmentally sustainable, but far more fulfilling and beautiful as well. Expressed in his terms, solving the environmental crisis is not about "giving things up"; it is about regaining the very best things in life that we have unknowingly already given up.

In summary, the Prince's analysis of how and when and why we originally gave up harmonious living may not go all the way back to the root, but it goes quite far - and he vividly drives home the point that modern society has, completely unnecessarily, set itself up in opposition to Nature and that we would all be far better off, in virtually every conceivable way, if instead we once again aligned ourselves in harmony with Her.

Nearly perfect, December 2, 2010
I borrowed this book from my library and I was totally engrossed and impressed by the end of the first chapter. Much of it is familiar content for anyone that is knowledgeable about factory farming and environmental issues; however the underlying philosophy that he discusses for his beliefs is truly interesting and something I haven't heard *much* of. My partner and I are astounded that a member of the royal family could have so many beliefs with which we agree (and we are not liberals, nor conservatives). You can tell that Prince Charles is extremely well-read on certain very important authors, such as Lewis Mumford, particularly his work "Pentagon of Power." I think that what I like most about the book is that it's not another rehash of the oversimplified "let's put a solar panel on a McMansion and call it sustainable, and that's all we have to do to save the world!" trendiness that is so common today. He says things that people in positions of power often do not admit, particularly about indigenous populations, fossil fuel depletion, and yes, spirituality. I am thoroughly in love with this book, and will be buying a copy of the children's version for my daughter for Christmas.

"Harmony"--A Clarion Call For A Sustainability Revolution!, December 14, 2010
Regardless of your view of British Royalty or the Prince of Wales up to now, I challenge any open-minded, intelligent, compassionate human being who truly cares about the future of our Earth and its inhabitants, to read this new book by Prince Charles--"Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Our World"--and not conclude that this man's obvious magnum opus should not only be placed in the hands of all world leaders we're entrusting with our future and that of our children, but also be a text taught from in schools at all levels in all countries and languages (there's also a children's edition, with all published in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Brazil, thus far), especially in graduate and doctoral Environmental Studies programs.

When we say one is "a prince of peace" or "a prince among men," it's a great complement. I hope all who love our planet and its living things will now join this Cambridge-educated Prince of Wales--who's spent 30 years studying the essential principles of harmony and how they work in Nature, and how, if we ignore them, our Earth's precious life-support systems start to wobble and may eventually collapse--in his heartfelt plea to make this age fit for a sustainable future.

In essence, "Harmony" is a clarion call for a global Sustainability Revolution. Whether you prefer the hundredth-monkey or critical-mass metaphor, it's now clear to all who've done their homework (and if there ever was a 'Cliff's Notes' version of the encroaching catastrophe threatening us and our global village, "Harmony" is it), that we humans must finally achieve the quantum leap in consciousness now clearly necessary to save our planet from ourselves.

Fortunately, "Harmony" offers not only an overview of our present situation, but also a list of the solutions, all of which depend, for their success, on looking at the world in a different way. Thus, this brilliant book challenges "the current world view in all the important areas of human activity--in agriculture and architecture, education, healthcare, in science, business, and economics," warning that "none of us can survive for very long if the underlying well-being of the planet is destroyed."

"Harmony's" hope: "Let this book be a means of explaining what has caused us to think that we can abandon Nature's rhythmic patterns. We have done so, not just in the mechanized processes we use to grow our food and treat our farm animals, or the way in which we design and build our homes, towns and cities, or the way in which we deny the crucial relationship between mind, body and spirit in healthcare. We have also done so in the way we fail, in our systems of economics, to measure and put a proper value on Nature's vital services, and even in the manner we teach OUT a proper whole-istic understanding of the fact that we are a PART of Nature, not apart from Her, when it comes to our children's education."

If, my sisters, you don't yet know why, "in the past decade, a staggering 100,000 Punjabi [Indian] farmers have committed suicide because of the economic pressures that the industrial approach has imposed upon them," "Harmony" will teach you why. If, my brothers, you're not yet aware that 500 miles off the coast of California, in an area occupying 540,000 square miles of the Pacific--nearly six times the size of the United Kingdom--there's a 'plastic vortex,' as it's become known, comprising up to 100 million tons of man-made waste--plastic packages, bottles, cans, tires and broken-down chemical sludge, "Harmony" will bring you up to speed.

Since, my friends, more than one-sixth of our nearly seven billion fellow humans are today forced to live in extreme poverty, it's important to understand how we arrived at this state here at the top of our species' evolutionary ladder. . .where, "using industrial techniques in factory farms, livestock production requires a third of the world's usable land and global grain harvest, and is responsible for around 18% of greenhouse gas emissions."

"Harmony" offers "inspiration for those who feel, deep down, that there is a more balanced way of looking at the world, and more harmonious ways of living. It not only outlines the kinds of approach that depend on us seeing Nature as a whole, but also examines the great and practical value in seeing the nature of humanity as a whole."

What this Prince of Wales hopes will become obvious to those reading "Harmony," is "just how many answers we already have at our disposal, if our goal is to re-establish our rightful relationship with Nature and pull back from the brink of catastrophe. It is a goal I truly believe is achievable, if we remind ourselves of the essential grammar of harmony--a grammar of which humanity should always be the measure."

As our friends at Nike have programmed us for over a decade, please "Just DO it!" Read "Harmony," so you not only understand what it means to the harmony of our Earth when Americans bury 222 million tons of household waste each year, while the Chinese are already up to 148 million. Please read "Harmony" to understand why its author warns: "We are testing the world to destruction, and the tragedy--no, the stupidity--is that we will only discover the real truth when we have finally succeeded in completely denuding the world of its complex, life-giving forces, and eradicating traditional human wisdom."

The Prince of Wales concludes: "We need a Sustainability Revolution. . . .We have to discover that in order for humanity to endure alongside the natural world (and the vast, as yet unnumbered creatures with which we share this miraculous planet) on which it so intimately depends for its survival, it is essential to give something BACK to Nature, in return for what we so persistently and all the more arrogantly take from Her. Our approach cannot all be based on 'rights.' There have to be 'responsibilities,' too. . . .It is my ambition that this book, the film that will follow it, and other initiatives that will accompany both, will help to facilitate that vital, cross-cultural and international discussion and exchange."

This brilliant book--"Harmony"--is a blessing for us all. Please read it and share it with loved ones, friends and colleagues, perhaps as truly meaningful, helpful and compassionate gifts during this holiday season and into the challenging new year. Please help get it into school programs at all levels as a teaching text, especially as part of an Environmental Studies curriculum. Fortunately, we each do not have to invest the global, 30-year study necessary to create this masterpiece of compassionate wisdom called "Harmony."

However, it will not move out of Amazon warehouses and off booksellers' shelves, worldwide, without the 'buzz' we CAN help create as we all work collectively to promote it and its crucial message. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama--who planted a tree in the Prince of Wales' garden as just one, simple demonstration of what each of us can do beyond upgrading our understanding of this precious Earth's dilemma by reading "Harmony"--has often said in his own global travels:

"Peace and survival of life on earth, as we know it, are threatened by human activities that lack a commitment to humanitarian values. Destruction of nature and natural resources results from ignorance, greed, and lack of respect for the Earth's living things. This lack of respect extends even to the Earth's human descendants--the future generations who will inherit a vastly degraded planet if world peace doesn't become a reality, and if destruction of the natural environment continues at the present rate.

"Our ancestors viewed the Earth as rich and bountiful, which it is. Many people in the past also saw Nature as inexhaustibly sustainable, which we now know is the case only if we care for it. It is not difficult to forgive destruction in the past that resulted from ignorance. Today, however, we have access to more information. Therefore, it is essential that we re-examine, ethically, what we have inherited, what we are responsible for, and what we will pass on to coming generations.

"Many of the Earth's habitats, animals, plants, insects and even microorganisms that we know as rare, may not be known at all by future generations. We have the capability and the responsibility. We must act before it is too late." [Excerpt from "My Tibet"]

Thank you so much, sisters and brothers, for reading "Harmony," as well as for helping spread its message which is now absolutely critical to helping us "act before it is too late," wherever and in whatever ways you're able. . .even if only writing a review of "Harmony" for your own town or city's publications, just as I have here. [In fact, please feel free to send them this one, if you wish, with my permission and blessing.]

As American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead so often advised us: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Big Love, and Peace of mind,

Dennis Paulson
Santa Barbara, California
Author, "Voices of Survival In the Nuclear Age"

Excellent, but personally frustrating, November 29, 2010
If An Inconvenient Truth set out the problem, this book provides the solution. Harmony is a positive book that sets out the necessary overarching framework to completely change the modern lifestyle, which must be done immediately. Of course as the book points out, there is a strong international grassroots movement already moving this way. The main flaw of the book is that it curiously seems oblivious to the terrible power wielded by multinational corporations, both in removing existing regulation and any attempt to increase regulation by completely corrupting the political process and in manipulating public opinion through advertising, the power of overwhelming advertising dollars to influence the content of the media, and the insidious complete takeover of the media by multinational conglomerates. Although I suppose he couldn't say the latter outright as it would look like a vendetta. He does mention how advertising has deliberately fostered a culture of consumerism, but obviously the problem goes well beyond that.

I suppose it is also his role to stay above politics, but this leads to a disconnect with some of his proposals, like changing town planning and school curricula. Of course those are nice goals with long-range ecological benefits, but the ecological problem that confronts us is urgent and immediate, and we need to expend our political efforts first on regulation and cap and trade (or something similar). Revolution must happen in the next five years, not the next fifty. He calls for revolution on the very first page of the book, but seems unaware that in actuality this is a revolutionary war, with clear and powerful enemies that must be fought.

That is my only criticism of the book. Harmony is both fresh and timeless and is a testament to his decades of work in planting the seeds of sustainability (although he prefers the term "durability"). He puts forth a comprehensive world view that is both engaging and strengthening, giving us all a way forward with both a grounding philosophy and practical ways to make the changes that must be made. His examples of indigenous peoples successfully fighting multinational corporations are cheering and encourage us all to make a stand and fight. And simply showing, proving that there is a way forward, that for example it is possible to organically farm and produce abundant food gives to those of us in the trenches a clear goal. It also helps convince those who are undecided about the urgency of ecological change. Through example after example, with both his refreshingly personal prose and beautiful photographs from all over the world, he vividly shows the wrongness of the current modern lifestyle and the rightness of going back to the old ways, at least in a modified form. The book works well both as an ecological manifesto and a lovely coffee table book--humorous but true.

Personally I was extremely frustrated reading the book. The main thrust of the book is that we must change men's minds and hearts to bring fundamental, effective and long-lasting ecological change. Specifically the change that must come about is for a person to be able to see the underlying pattern in Nature and the interconnectedness of all things--man's place in the natural world is as an interconnected part, not the master of creation. He grasps at how to do this and brings up a variety of ways--through education, improved architecture, getting out in Nature, organic farming, etc. I am an author myself and my book focuses on brain chemistry. The key he overlooks is neurotransmitters. Changing the brain is the most direct way to changing the man. In particular, the two neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin are at the heart of his book, he just doesn't know it. The foods and drinks and drugs we consume determine to a large extent how we think.

In particular, this is what he doesn't know and I do. Changes in farming have a profound effect on brain chemistry. Poultry and beef that are free range--cows that eat grass and chickens that scratch--produce meat and milk and eggs that are high in omega-3 fatty acids and low in omega-6 fatty acids. Poultry and beef that subsist on grains produce meat and milk and eggs that are low in omega-3 fatty acids and high in omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids increase dopamine in the brain. Omega-6 fatty acids reduce dopamine in the brain. Dopamine helps a person see the underlying patterns in things. Of course too much dopamine in the diseased brain of a schizophrenic causes the person to see patterns in everything, even patterns that aren't there. But if dopamine is too low, as it is in most people who live the modern lifestyle, then the mind has difficult seeing the underlying patterns that ARE there. Historically the cultures that consumed the most omega-3 fatty acids, that ate a lot of fish, were generally more focused on spirituality and focused on the interconnectedness of all things.

Likewise, we live in the Age of Serotonin. Our culture places an overwhelming importance on having a high serotonin state. Serotonin works against dopamine, isolating us from being connected with our own bodies, our emotions, and other people. Of course a certain steady amount of serotonin is necessary for health and avoiding depression, but at least in America it seems we all want the high-serotonin personality of a used care salesman. Eating starchy and sugary foods raises serotonin a mild amount, drinking coffee or tea or any caffeine raises serotonin quite a bit, and of course antidepressants cause serotonin to go unnaturally high. So when the book talks about the spirituality of indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples, I think, well of course, they have a diet very high in omega-3 fatty acids because they eat lots of wild game, insects and fish, and they have moderate serotonin because they don't consume any starchy foods. That is why they are able to live in the Dreamtime. And when he deplores the birth of modernism in Great Britain in the seventeenth century, that's when they started importing coffee and tea. The United States is the poster child for the sort of modern freak he deplores, and we were the first to adopt factory farming, the first to pop antidepressants like candy, and the first to throw out the sensible cultural limits on caffeine, drinking Starbucks espressos like water throughout the day. Modern Americans' diet is so very different from, say, an indigenous tribe on the Amazon that we are practically a different species.

In the end the result he wants--a return to our natural mind state--will be brought about by his passion--organic farming. And already the stranglehold of pharmaceutical antidepressants is slowly being broken by doctors and researchers pointing out that a daily brisk walk in the sunshine works as well as antidepressants for all but the most severe types of depression. Something else that may help due to the sheer size of the population is omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, as it will take time to go organic worldwide and we will all need to become more vegetarian. It is DHA in particular that is most necessary. Trying to get the necessary DHA from fish would put unnecessary strain on our already overburdened oceans. A high-tech solution might be algae farms, that can also be used to sequester carbon dioxide.

Sorry to go off on a tangent there, but it is my area of expertise. I wish I could communicate this directly to the author because I think he would find it edifying, but I suppose it is a moot point since he is already unknowingly pursuing the most direct route towards his goal. Also the idea of dashing off a personal missive to a head of state makes me feel wildly uncomfortable, not to mention the impossibility of it actually getting to him, so this review will have to do. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Like a raging wildfire, August 25, 2009

Big country, big people, big problems: an epic American tale, September 6, 2009

Well written history of an important event, September 12, 2009

Two Stories, Much to Learn, Keeps You Longing for the Next Page!, October 11, 2009

Another Excellent Book from Timothy Egan, October 8, 2009

Amazingly educating and entertaining at the same time, August 29, 2009

Gifford Pinchot, January 23, 2010
Pinchot was a friend of my grandfather and inspired my father Arthur duBois to go to Yale Forestry School. "Big Burn brings to life his mystical personality and his relationship with Teddy Roosevelt. Beautifully written and and easy read. Arthur W. DuBois

A Fine History of a Major Turning Point in the History of Forestry in the U.S., October 11, 2009

"The forests wanted to burn", September 2, 2010

When President William McKinley died of gangrene after being shot in September 1901, Vice President Teddy Roosevelt had to make a middle-of-the-night dash for Washington from a remote spot deep in the Adirondacks. This was a fitting start for a presidency that established the conservation movement in U.S. politics and placed 230 million acres of land under Federal protection as national parks, preserves and forests.

In its first section, The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America details Roosevelt's love of wild places and his relationship with Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot was a McKinley appointee in the Department of Agriculture, a Yale man from a wealthy family, among the first professionally educated foresters. Roosevelt and Pinchot had a vision of the American wilderness as a sacred trust belonging to all Americans. The country was being gobbled up by grazers, miners, and especially the timber industry. Homesteading, the great opportunity for settlers spreading west, was often a front for big business acquisitions; fortunes were being made by a few at the expense, Roosevelt believed, of Americans yet to be born. He was determined to protect our heritage for those future generations. Pinchot and Roosevelt both came from privileged backgrounds but enacted populist policies, often infuriating the wealthy industrialists who had their eyes on the great spaces.

Under Roosevelt's presidency Pinchot tried to manage the vast Federal forests on the pittance Congress allowed him, staffing the service with a corps of committed young foresters, most of them from the Yale forestry program. Pinchot did not believe in removing the Federal land from commercial use; his vision was to lease cutting rights and regulate heavily to preserve the health of the forests. His greatest hubris was in his attitude toward fire: he believed that an agile, adequately funded Forestry Service could control and effectively eliminate forest fires. As fires were started by lightning, by sparks from trains, and by the many other works of man, the foresters used trenching and back-burning to contain them. The forests aged and filled with combustible debris, and it was inevitable that one day it would burn and burn, and not be stopped.

It was just chance that led me to this book exactly one hundred years after the furious fire that burned vast forested sections of Washington, Montana and Idaho. This great fire destroyed three million acres of forest--parts of the Bitterroot, Clearwater, Coeur d'Alene, Lolo, St. Joe's forests, and gobbled up several towns. Author Timothy Egan devotes the second section of the book to a detailed play-by-play of the two-day inferno and the courageous foresters, army troops and woodsmen who fought to contain it. In August 1910 the woods were tinder dry, clogged with brush and dead trees, and wanting to burn. Several smaller fires were fanned together by high, dry winds and became a "kinetic engine" that burned until the wind stopped and rain fell.

The third section of the book covers the political demise of Gifford Pinchot, Roosevelt's attempt to return to national politics with the Bull Moose Party in 1912, and the changing fortunes of the Forestry Service. Egan's somewhat dramatic title is to a certain extent substantiated by the change in forestry management policies, and now logging in the national forests is in decline because it's cheaper to farm trees and import them for construction than to log under forestry maintenance policies. There is mention of the modern acknowledgement that the forests MUST burn to some extent, to allow their renewal in the aftermath of fire.

I enjoyed this book very much but you can see that like Caesar's Gaul, it's divided sharply into three parts, and that gives it an uneven quality. The extreme detail in the first section, and particularly in the description of the two-day fire and its aftermath, leaves too little space for the arc of public policy in the last hundred years--it's a disaster novel set between bookends of serious history. Four stars; I listened to the ten-hour audio production from Audible, narrated by Robertson Dean.

Linda Bulger, 2010

An Extreme Burn, January 14, 2010
The Big Burn by Timothy Egan is probably the best non fiction book I have read yet. He starts a little slow because you must know the people and how the conservation movement started. The book builds in intensity with each chapter.It is the history of Teddy Roosevelt's fight to start the conservation movement. With John Muir and Gifford Pinchot they started the fight to preserve our land. National Parks and Forest Rangers to protect them was established. While many in this country did not see the need to protect our land, this trio fought and succeeded. While this fight was hard nothing could prepare Teddys group for what was about to happen.
What happened was the Big Burn. One of the largest, deadliest fires in history, these men stood their ground and fought it. It talks of certain Rangers and how they fought the fire and survived, or how mistakes led to their demise. The book is written in story form so it is easy to read. The characters come to life with Egan's descriptions of them.
In the three page chapter where the fire starts, I did not take a breath while reading! I felt as though I was in the fire. I could see it, feel the heat from it and fear it. It takes a great author to do that. I could'nt stop reading the book after the fire broke out. The acres and acres of destroyed land and the deaths of those that fought to protect it will be remembered because of this book.
Because of reading this book I have been interested in bio's of Gifford Pinchot and Teddy Roosevelt. If you want to read a great book...read this one. I guarantee you will enjoy it. You will laugh, cry and have feelings of dislike for and with people involved in the fire. I am grateful that we have these parks to visit and enjoy. I am even more greatful for the Rangers that protect them.
Read this book. It will change you. You will not be sorry. ... Read more

Editorial Review

William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a remarkable true story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. It will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual's ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.

Reviews

Build a windmill, get invited to TED!, September 6, 2009

An amazing story of determination and hope, September 10, 2009

Inspirational, definitely; drudgery at times, December 30, 2009
I didn't really know what to expect when I purchased this book for my Kindle, although I will admit that I noticed the high marks (5 stars) from the other reviewers. So I decided to give it a try and see what the hype was about.

For the first 10% of the book (Kindle doesn't have page numbers) I really was regretting the purchase. The pages were filled with stories of William (main character) as a young boy and the various predicaments he found himself in. The stories told of magic and witchcraft that caused all kinds of terrible things to happen and the overall direction of the book seemed to bounce back and forth from story or idea to another story or idea. I found myself thinking that these stories were so farfetched, how is the remainder of the book going to integrate these magical tales. At that point, I wasn't looking forward to reading more of the book. Nevertheless I persevered and was happily rewarded.

As William grows older (relatively speaking), the story - rather than witchcraft and magic - turns to real life events (famine and hardship) which actually brings you closer to William and his family. Not that many of us can relate to devastating famine where it wipes out entire populations, but it does help us understand what William had to deal with during such a trying time. Some touching moments are created in these pages and definitely rewards for turning the pages.

Once William begins his journey of harnessing the wind, for me, this was the most interesting part of the book. It truly was fascinating to me to not only learn how some of the things we take for granted (like electricity) can play such an integral role in communities that are essentially third world countries but also how one would go about constructing things with no money. The inspiration and true reward which William finally receives for his hard work does make you want to stand up and feel proud - it's definitely a feel good moment to say the least.

It was funny, as I was reading the first 10% of the book, I was going to give this review one star. Then as I continued to read on, I planned on raising it to two stars and when I finished, it was three stars. And while I agree that it could be given a true five star rating, portions of the book just seemed so distracting to me that it actually took away from the reading. Again, this is a truly inspirational story and that alone is a five star rating but fold in much of the remaining passages and it loses some of it's luster - hence the three stars.

Overall though, should you decide to pick up a copy, just know that if you're bored in the first pages, it will get better.

Inspiring true story of hope and invention set against Malawi's worst famine in 50 years, August 29, 2009
You can't help but be moved by the tale of William Kamkwamba, a poor young Malawian boy who was forced to drop out of high school for lack of school fees. Rather than waste his life, he decided to educate himself via a small library at his former primary school. He sees the cover of a 5th grade textbook from the United States which depicts a windmill, and decides to build one to power his family's home, despite no knowledge of exactly how to do so and no money for parts. Whether he succeeds and what happens after I won't spoil here.

Set against the backdrop of the country's worst famine in 50 years where people were literally starving to death, this story is also the journey of a boy who believes in magic as he becomes a young man of science. Co-written with journalist Bryan Mealer, the book reads like a novel. You'll find it lyrical, poignant and in parts, heartbreaking, but ultimately uplifting, hopeful and life-affirming. Perfect for anyone who enjoys thrilling and inspiring true-life tales. Besides general readers, I recommend "The Boy" for bookclubs, gifts, do-it-yourself enthusiasts (Makers!) and for middle school, high school and college readers.

If you loved Greg Mortensen's "Three Cups of Tea," you'll love "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind."

Fascinating picture of life in a modern 3rd-world country, September 11, 2009

Harnessing Hope., September 10, 2009

Starving? No education? No power? Build a windmill. Absolutely amazing story., September 4, 2009

Inspirational story grabs you and takes you away, September 14, 2009

Humanity prevailing against odds, September 13, 2009

everyday survival and determination, September 13, 2009

Editorial Review

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2011, Greenpeace is the organization synonymous with peaceful environmental activism. And spotlighting the wilderness's most pristine landscapes and alluring faces, Greenpeace: Standing Up for the Earth calendar is a poignant tribute to the splendor, diversity, and fragility of the natural world. A humpback whale breeches off the Alaska coast. The astonishing fall colors of Great Smokey Mountains National Park. An intimate portrait of an orangutan holding her baby. Every month's image will stop you in your tracks. As always, royalties from the sale of the calendar support the work of Greenpeace.
... Read more

Reviews

Favorite Calendar, December 5, 2010
I love the pictures on this calendar. The informational snippets at the base of the month can be a bit--graphic, but the issues they discuss, combined with the photos of the animals/habitats in their healthy condition help to keep a balance between romanticizing our relationship to the wild and remind us of our responsibility to protect them. The calendar itself is high quality with date blocks that are large enough to record appointments, etc.

My office would not be the same without one!, December 18, 2010
Outstanding photography, large format, and environmental activism makes this a great buy. Plus I like the large square for each day - I use small post-it's to mark dates. I have had these Greenpeace calendars in my office for years. I have looked at other calendars, this one is still the best. ... Read more

Editorial Review

"Read it, please. Straight through to the end. Whatever else you were planning to do next, nothing could be more important." —Barbara Kingsolver

Twenty years ago, with The End of Nature, Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about global warming. Those warnings went mostly unheeded; now, he insists, we need to acknowledge that we've waited too long, and that massive change is not only unavoidable but already under way. Our old familiar globe is suddenly melting, drying, acidifying, flooding, and burning in ways that no human has ever seen. We've created, in very short order, a new planet, still recognizable but fundamentally different. We may as well call it Eaarth.

That new planet is filled with new binds and traps. A changing world costs large sums to defend—think of the money that went to repair New Orleans, or the trillions it will take to transform our energy systems. But the endless economic growth that could underwrite such largesse depends on the stable planet we've managed to damage and degrade. We can't rely on old habits any longer.

Our hope depends, McKibben argues, on scaling back—on building the kind of societies and economies that can hunker down, concentrate on essentials, and create the type of community (in the neighborhood, but also on the Internet) that will allow us to weather trouble on an unprecedented scale. Change—fundamental change—is our best hope on a planet suddenly and violently out of balance. 

Editorial Review

A manifesto for a radically different philosophy and practice of manufacture and environmentalism

"Reduce, reuse, recycle" urge environmentalists; in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. As William McDonough and Michael Braungart argue in their provocative, visionary book, however, this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world, they ask.

In fact, why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective; hence, "waste equals food" is the first principle the book sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new-either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are).

Elaborating their principles from experience (re)designing everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, the authors make an exciting and viable case for change.
... Read more

Reviews

Visionary Environmentalism, April 27, 2002
This doesn't feel like a book - literally. It's a different size and shape, the pages are thick, the thing feels significantly heavier than it looks, and it's waterproof.

The design of the book is making a point also made in the text of the book: the current state of recycling generally turns higher quality products into lower quality ones useful only for purposes other than the original product, and then eventually discards them. This is not recycling; it's slow motion waste.

"Cradle to Cradle," the object, is intended to be easily and completely recyclable into a new book of the same quality.

"Cradle to cradle," the phrase, is contrasted to "cradle to grave."

"Cradle to Cradle," the text, argues in favor of making all human productions either recyclable in the way this book is or completely biodegradable so that they can be used as fertilizer.

In the future envisioned and partially created and described by this pair of authors, packaging will be tossed on the ground in response to signs reading "Please litter!" Appliances will be leased and returned to manufacturers to be completely recycled. Objects that must contain both biodegradable and inorganic recyclable elements will be easily separable into those respective parts: you'll toss the soles of your shoes into the garden and give the uppers back to the shoemaker. And the water coming out of factories will be cleaner than what came in, motivating the factory owners to reuse it and eliminating the need for the government to test its toxicity.

These authors teemed up on the 1991 Hannover Principles to guide the design of the 2000 World's Fair. McDonough has an architecture firm in Charlottesville, Va., and from 1994 to 1999 was dean of the University of Virginia's School of Architecture. Braungart is a German chemist who for several years headed the chemistry section of Greenpeace.

This book is superb and should be read by those familiar with the issues of environmental design and those completely new to the topic. It draws on themes common in a long list of books ranging from "Ishmael," by Daniel Quinn to "Natural Capitalism," by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins. But McDonough and Braungart make no acknowledgements of any such influences and present themselves (just as these other authors have) as the vanguard of a change as radical as the industrial revolution.

Their idea is incredibly important and well stated, but it's not the clear break from current environmental (or for that matter industrial or "Third Way") thinking that they maintain - and for students of evolution why should it need to be, what's wrong with evolving our thinking a helpful bit further, as they have done? What McD and B propose as revolutionary is -- instead of reducing pollution and consumption and having fewer children -- making increased economic activity actually beneficial to the planet.

Three comments. First, this book does not suggest any radical change in behavior for the typical reader. (Have lots of kids, drive lots of cars, buy lots of stuff - what a break through!) This book is, rather, advice for architects, corporations, and municipalities. It is intended to free the typical reader of guilt. I think it should do something else as well, namely urge us to political action, to demanding of our democratically elected representatives that the earth-saving innovations described in the book be taken advantage of. All the descriptions in this book of common household objects, such as sofas, "off-gasing" toxic particles makes me want to take action to change things or at least buy a mask, not go shopping.

Second, the examples of new materials and building and product designs described in the book all build on the environmental thinking that McD and B so loudly reject. Reducing pollution to zero is not a "new paradigm" from reducing pollution to a teeny bit - it's just better.

Third, the vision of rendering mad self-indulgence completely beneficial to all other species is far from a reality, and even the dream described by McD and B would not, in any way that I can imagine, make it possible to place an unlimited number of humans on the planet without hurting anything - more humans than under current practices, yes -- an infinite number, no. But let's remember that most of the people now on the planet do not do nearly as much damage as we do in this country. How many billion Americans the Earth can hold has not been answered.

There is also a disturbing thread of anti-government corporatism in the book. Ford and Nike and other corporations for which the authors have worked are described as heroes for their positive efforts, while their destructive practices are passed over. The authors repeat a distinction (citing Jane Jacobs' "Systems of Survival") between Guardians and Commerce, i.e. paternalistic government and noble corporate heroes:

"Commerce is quick, highly creative, inventive, constantly seeking short- and long-term advantage, and inherently honest: you can't do business with people if they aren't trustworthy."

Is this a joke? Do these guys believe press releases they read from, say, Enron? (Apparently so, because later in the book they write: "...the summer of 2001, when unusually high energy demand in California led to rolling blackouts, skyrocketing prices, even accusations of profiteering...." Accusations! High demand or restrained supply? What rock have these intelligent authors been naturally cooling themselves under? Well, at least they recognize the concept of profiteering, even though it fits poorly with the inherent honesty of commerce.)

Immediately following the "inherently honest" comment (page 60) Mc D and B go on to equate regulation with partial pollution reduction, and to conclude that because complete pollution reduction is desirable and possible, regulation is bad. Instead they should conclude that rather than allowing limited pollution, regulators should ban it entirely (through whatever stages of phasing in that policy prove feasible).

The proof is in your hands, April 29, 2002
Proof that our technologically advanced, high-consumption industrial system can make environmentally sound and sustainable products. We can manufacture a whole range of goods that are ecologically efficient in that they reduce waste and yet are less expensive to make than traditionally manufactured items. Pick up CRADLE TO CRADLE and the proof is right there in your hands. "This book is not a tree" the authors tell us. Its slightly heavier than your average paperback, the pages are whiter and they're also waterproof (I took the authors word on that one and am happy to say I was able to read on). The pages are made from plastic resins and fillers and in keeping with the message of "eliminating waste", the book is 100% recyclable.

McDonough and Braungart's vision of "Remaking the Way We Make Things" goes way beyond books. Why not buildings that produce more energy than they consume? Or "green" roofs that give off oxygen while cooling the occupants? How about factories that produce drinkable effluent? or products that when their useful life is over can be used as nutrients for soil? What sounds like science fiction is convincingly shown to be quite feasible by the authors. They offer numerous examples to prove it.

"We see a world of abundance, not limits" they say. As an architect (McDonough) and chemist (Braungart) they don't have any special qualifications for this re-thinking and re-doing. What they simply have done is re-imagine the whole manufacturing process beginning with the design elements. Sometimes it's simply a matter of asking the right questions and looking at things differently. They are not talking about smaller-scale industry or limiting themselves to the "four R's" of traditional environmentalism - reuse, recycle, reduce, and regulate. With their intelligent designs, "bigger and better" is possible "in a way that replenishes, restores, and nourishes the rest of the world."

McDonough and Braungart cover topics such as the history of the industrial revolution, new business strategies that emphasize eco-efficiency, the relationship between man, nature, and science, and the importance of design and planning. Hopeful, well written, thoroughly researched, and packed with practical examples, this refreshing book offers an alternative to our current industrial system that "takes, makes and wastes". We have the talent, technology, and with the enthusiasm of these authors, we have the capability to achieve economic and ecological sustainability.

A Truly New Kind of Book, April 18, 2002
I can't think of another book that so obviously practices what it preaches as _Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things_ (North Point Press) by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Books are usually printed on a fairly high grade of paper (compared to, say, that used in newspapers), paper which everyone knows comes from cutting down pretty and naturally useful trees. The paper is printed with inks that have heavy metals and other chemicals in them. You can recycle a book, but those chemicals get to be part of the mess, and are expensive to remove. Anyway, you don't really recycle it, you _down_cycle it (the authors' term), because the paper in it can only be bleached and chemically treated to turn it into a lower grade of paper, such as for newspapers. And newspapers can be turned into toilet paper, in further downcycling. _Cradle to Cradle_ is about breaking out of such "cycles" and into real cycles. It has smooth, bright white pages that are heavy, like the paper in the best books. They are not, however, paper in the usual sense, although you probably wouldn't notice the difference unless your attention was called to it. They are made of plastic resins and inorganic fillers. Although the pages are designed to last as long as any paper book, these pages can be recycled by conventional means to make more paper of equal quality. They might even be _up_cycled into resins of greater complexity and utility. The ink on them can be easily removed by a safe solvent bath, or washing with extremely hot water, and does not contain dangerous chemicals.

The authors, one an architect and one a chemist, created McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry in 1995, to consult with companies about designing sustaining products and factories. They have the ear of such companies as Ford and Nike, and their book is a primer on how they would like to see manufacturing work in the future to take part in natural cycles having little effect on the overall ecology of the earth. It is a rather thrilling little manifesto, by two obviously bright guys who don't let their optimism get in the way of bringing in real results. The idea is for products and processes not to be "less bad," but like ants or trees, to be positively good for the environment. "Waste is food" is the principle. Making products that can be composted, or can be used again without degrading them or the environment can be done, and it is no dream. Much of the book shows how the authors, as consultants, have put such principles into action.

It can be done. The words of the authors, clearly concerned about the future of the planet, are enthusiastic and convincing, and given the examples in this surprising book, it is clear that we will be seeing more design of products and processes that are incorporated into natural cycles. Given the example of the book itself, a good looking product on its own, the advantages are clear. And if that isn't enough, the book can be read without risk in the bathtub, as it is entirely waterproof.

Thought-provoking...not without shortcomings, March 10, 2003
McDonough & Braungart are obviously very talented guys. This book is harshly honest as they don't spare the rod in respect to either full-out industrial capitalists or eco-efficiency proponents.

However, I had three issues with this book:

1) It could have been a lot more throught-provoking if the authors had organized the book better. Seriously, it takes 80 or so pages before you get a handle on the author's true point of view. They spend every single word until that point debunking all other approaches in the field. I wish they had interspersed it with their ideas. But they keep their hand hidden until that point. I found it frustrating.

2) There's a big deal made of the book itself, and its 'upcycle potential.' All well and good, but can I point out a rather annoying side-effect? This is a difficult book to read...I mean from an ergonomic perspective. You just can't keep the thing open. And as far as reading it on a bookholder when you're working out: forget it. It will not lie flat. I realize this is an insipid criticism, but this technology is not yet ready for prime-time, in my opinion.

3) The book needs to be more quantitative. Only in the last chapter do we get any hint of realism, when the authors tell you about their work with Ford's River Rouge plant. Up until that point, there were some hints dropped here and there, most notably about the Herman Miller office the duo built. I'm sure they've got reams of quantitative evidence to support their theories. For some reason, they made a decision not to present it, and I think it hurts the book.

Still, depsite these comments, I think 'Cradle to Cradle' is worth your time.

Change your way of thinking about progress, June 2, 2002
"Cradle to Crade" is a fabulous book. Regardless of whether you agree with the authors' views, you will find excellent arguments, good research, and clear explanations from philosophical, historical, scientific, and business perspectives.

The upshot of the book is that humanity's whole philosophy of designing technology is destructive to the planet. What we need to do is realize that since the Earth is a closed system, we need to use industrial processes that both avoid toxifying the environment and produce finished products whose raw materials can be endlessly reused. We're not talking convential recycling programs, where various kinds of plastic get melted together to produce a big mass of low-quality material. The authors provide several examples of products that meet their conditions. They're well-equipped to do so, since for a decade they've run a design firm that helps companies do exactly what they preach.

There's more to this book than just a "2nd industrial revolution". When the authors apply the same basic ideas to urban planning, economic "efficiency", or health issues, it really gives us some great points to ponder. Hopefully some of us will even be inspired to action. It's really a very important book.

Excellent Premise - Problematic binding, July 5, 2002
I would like to split this book review into 2 sections:
1. Content
2. Binding as it relates to #1

1. Content
This book is an excellent "manifesto" about re-use, and defining it as "real" re-use -- meaning the material stays as close to its highest possible use as long as possible. It seems the terms "Reduce, reuse and recycle" have stuck in the authors' craw - since as they point out, most reuse and recycling involves taking 2L soda pop bottles and changing them into mattress fill essentially delaying the inevitable landfill destination, but not preventing it (they call this "downcycling"). And "reducing" brings us to the Carter 1970's where conservation involved great personal sacrifice to which modern eco-movement says "balderdash." These folks most certainly are in that new Ecology camp. (The new branch of the Ecological movement claims proper conservation and efficient use of resources makes living *better* than before, since the movement has shown that efficient use of resources is the key to living well, and in fact *better* than before in terms of personal comfort, more profits for companies, etc.)

The authors contend in well written words, that paying serious attention to same-level reuse during a manufacturing process can help to eliminate waste later. This brings us to the second part of this review -- the binding.

2. The binding

The binding is a durabook -- esentially a plastic book with a waterproof binding. The authors and publisher claim that the book is 100% waterproof, and others have claimed to have put it through a wash cycle with no ill effects. At $25 retail, $17.50 Amazon, I am not likely to try this, but it is "cool." Additionally, the authors claim infinite recyclability of the binding and pages into other books - giving great weight to their thesis, but can also bring up some issues.

Issue 1: You can't compost their book.

The authors are likely to point out, that their point was not FLEXIBILITY of use, just that this book can and should be disassembled to make other books, and they are quick to point out that it is not made of trees. I hope they are correct, since this book won't decompose if I lose it in the forest or on the beach - and if I throw it away mistakenly, will sit in a landfill with all those other non decomposible wastes. Paper, while not part of their thesis, does not have to be made of wood pulp - there is a lot of agricultural waste that could be made into paper for books such as this one that would be an example of "upcycling" - and last time I checked, paper could be reused several generations, then decomposed back into the life cycle -- the ultimate in upcycling, I think.

Issue 2: The inks.

I tried to look into the "durabook" on the web - and found nothing much about the ink. Durabook aside, printing on plastic involves inks that tend to be rather toxic. If the Durabook is no exception, the authors may have illustared how difficult it may be to achieve painless, true, same-level recycling, since somehow the inks would have to be removed from the pages and the toxicity neutralized before reprinting or reforming a page (some sort of plastic friendly soy ink might be good to use?). Current paper recycling has to deal with this issue and generates a lot of toxic sludge per year unless the paper uses soy inks, which naturally decompose and are not toxic.

Summary:

While the thesis is interesting, the binding tells the real story of how far we've gotten in the new definition of recycling. Thinking about the uses beyond the immediate was shown by the authors to be important, but their choice of binding shows that there needs to be a great attention to detail and rigor to avoid unintended consequences.

5/5 for their thesis, 3/5 for the binding, 4/5 overall!

People and their stuff CAN co-exist, May 8, 2002
At 1-1/4 lbs, "Cradle to Cradle" is more than twice as heavy as a same-size paperback edition of John Steinbeck's "The Winter of Our Discontent" and the fact is more than incidental.

"Remaking the Way We Make Things", the book's subtitle, is the social agenda of its authors, architect Bill McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart. They take issue with the three R's of environmentalism, "reduce, reuse and recycle." The process by which plastic bottles are recycled into carpet, for example, also produces considerable waste and the carpet itself "is still on its way to a landfill; it's just stopping off in your house en route."

The authors advocate designing products so that after their useful lives, either the product components provide biological nutrients for new products or circulate in a closed industrial loop.

The Yanomamo of Brazil whose banana soup dish may contain the ashes of their dearly departed was one source of inspiration for Braungart and McDonough was moved by the simple, natural and effective technology of the Bedouin whose goat hair tents ventilate hot air up and out and, when it rains, swell with absorbed moisture and provide protection.

The authors are walking the talk with the physical design of this new book. It is made of a waterproof polymer developed by Melcher Media so it can be read in the bath or at the beach, provided you have sufficient wrist strength to hoist it to viewing level. And the book can be "upcycled", made into a high quality polymer, at least theoretically. Until such time, place this book on the shelf above your hot tub next to Aqua Erotica, a collection of stories dealing with water and sex, another book of "Durabook" construction.

Undoubtedly, an electronic edition of the book would be most eco-effective. Also, a digital version would be searchable and might compensate for lack of an index. Despite its flaws as a model, it offers a vision of the future in which people and their stuff can co-exist.

A Shocking View of Our Everyday Lives, March 14, 2005
It seems that we have created a very hostile environment for ourselves. The house that we live in is filled with materials - carpet, paint, wood finishes - that fill the air with mutagenic materials and toxic gases. The cars that we drive emit noxious fumes and require non-renewable resources for their operation, and even the computer you are reading this on is made with materials that are harmful to the people who manufacture them and use them - not to mention the harm that is done to the environment once it is disposed of.


Many of the things that we take for granted are really quite silly when you look at them closely. We plop down houses, designed and built with no regard for their orientation to the sun, on land that has been stripped of trees that may have shaded the houses, or bodies of water that could be used to guide water runoff. Those houses are then surrounded by a foreign grass species that is forced to grow with dangerous chemicals, and then cut down with polluting machinery.


Many of the ways we impact the environment are more apparent, and attempts to alleviate them have gained in acceptance, but "Cradle to Cradle" argues that many of our "solutions" are simply patches for poorly-designed systems. They argue that recycling is actually "downcycling" - a process that results in a lower quality product with each cycle, that sometimes requires just as many resources as manufacturing a new product. The fact that soda cans are made with two different grades of aluminum, and are coated with paint, are a good example of unconsidered life-cycle.


William McDonough and Michael Braungart uncover many frightening side-effects of the way we live our lives and design our products. Most of the solutions they present for these problems are not currently feasible, but they present steps to take to work towards environmental utopia. The book itself is an example - its not quite the dream book they describe, with inks that wash off in a hot water bath and glues made of materials that can be recycled with the pages of the book, but "Cradle to Cradle" is printed on a very durable, heavy, and waterproof polymer-based paper that can be "upcycled."


There do appear to be some conflicts of interest in this book, however. McDonough and Braungart speak of clients of theirs - companies such as Monsanto, Dow, and Ford - as if they were environmental saints even though these companies have committed atrocious harm to the environment. But, where else do we expect them to provide anecdotes from? Also, it is true that the very power that enables those companies to do harm can enable them to do good.


"Cradle to Cradle" is a thorough survey of the environmental dynamics of the things and practices that make up our everyday lives. It is wrapped around a the framework of a fresh pattern of thinking that will hopefully bring us closer to living in harmony with our environment without abandoning our lives as we know them.

Interesting ideas, April 25, 2004
This book is a sometimes interesting, often meandering treatise on design. The authors, and American architect and a German chemist, have a very sincere desire to realign the world of design of objects and buildings so that they contribute to the betterment of the environment rather than destroy it. The title of the book "Cradle to Cradle" encapsulates their goal of designing objects that when they are no longer needed, naturally become useful inputs for the production of other objects rather than getting sent to the grave (or buried in a landfill). For example, they would like to see the creation of food packaging that could be thrown on the ground when the contents are consumed and would become fertilizer rather than non-biodegradable litter. (By this measure, the women concessionaires selling steamed rice treats in Indonesian trains are masters of design. The rice is both steamed and packaged in banana leafs, which are simply thrown out the train windows once the rice is consumed. But this practice also creates enormous problems- -since Indonesians have been accustomed to using such environmentally beneficial packaging for generations, they assume that "modern" packaging can be discarded in the same manner, much to the detriment of the Indonesian countryside. If you are living in a world of mixed packaging, some of which can be thrown out the window, and some of which must be discarded by other means, it's hard to keep straight which stuff goes where. That's a vital cultural issue that the authors don't explore here.)

McDounough and Braungart list the goals for their design program. They challenge inventors and industry leaders to design factories that "produce more energy than they consume, and purify their own waste water," and products that "can be tossed on the ground to decompose" or become "high-quality raw materials for new products" rather than simply "down-cycled". At the outset, these goals can sound a bit far-fetched. After, all, a factory that produces more energy than it consumes would seem to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics. But what the authors really mean here is not that the factory would miraculously produce something from nothing, but that the design of the factory would include such things as solar collectors on the roof and devices to capture heat that could then send energy back out to the power grid, perhaps even in excess of electrical energy coming in. They illustrate their lofty dreams with concrete designs that they have helped develop and implement, such as a cosmetics plant in Germany whose wastewater is actually cleaner than the water coming in to the plant, thanks to the new chemical formulations they recommended. What's more, they point out that such design efforts can be even be good for business, since in this particular example, the company was able to cut costs on hazardous materials handling and storage enough to more than offset slightly increased production costs with the new formulas. Such design efforts are fabulous examples of the potential benefits of thinking "out of the box".

The book contains quite a few additional examples of brilliant design ideas that can save resources as well as money. The book is also filled with surprising tidbits that haven't become general knowledge yet, like the potential hazards of wearing fabric made of recycled plastic bottles, and the fact that PET bottles were found to leach antimony when used as soap containers. The authors point out that the decision to use either recycled paper or virgin paper is not as clear cut as it seems- -while the production of virgin paper necessitates the cutting down of trees, recycling paper requires enormous amounts of bleaching, which produces PCBs. To demonstrate an alternative, the book itself is printed on a paper-free composite of plastics, which could be easily recycled into more book-grade plastics. The informative details and design goals of the book are quite interesting. However, the text often meanders around and through topics that are at best tangential or described better in other volumes. At times, some details or issues are also rehashed repetitively. In these places, it would have been better to focus on explicating McDonough and Braungart's own design program more fully. They've got some neat ideas that are well worth exploring, and it would have been great to be able to read even more about them and less about the general problems of environmental destruction that are described better in other books.

Very Disappointed, September 21, 2002
This book touches on a very interesting topic and has a great deal of potential; unfortunately this book is a real disappointment. This book makes many strong claims about the state of the environment with out backing them up with sources. Rather than citing facts from a reliable source the authors opt for harsh adjectives, which any knowledgeable reader will not take seriously. The authors touch on topic after topic without following up there claims, stories, ideas and previous work. Case in point, they talk about a well designed Brazil waste treatment system project that Mr. Michael Braungart worked on, but give no update of the state of the project today. Jumping from topic to topic this book does not read smoothly, and many times I felt frustrated and unsatisfied. They discussed the positive results of some of the projects they were involved in or headed, but they only used figures twice to back up their claims. Most of the time they briefly described their work, and offered no data, no comparisons nor any cost analysis showing the benefits.

I was hoping to see some more concrete examples, including some numbers, statistics and graphs. For example, some type of cost comparison of the designs, techniques and systems used by the authors versus modern mainstream conventional designs, techniques and systems was probably the most crucial missing piece of this book. In addition, an actual example of long term savings achieved by using the eco-friendly systems and designs proposed by the authors would have been convincing for skeptical readers; none were given. Instead I received very little new information, and the new interesting information that was found in the book was not followed up and the reader is forced to follow up these leads by reading other material.

The lone bright spot was the construction of the book, which was quite unique. I have no doubt that Mr. McDonough and Mr. Braungart are leaders in their respective fields, but this is a poorly written book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The man who revolutionized the field guide to birds now brings his formidable skills of identification and illustration to the more than six hundred tree species of North America. Similar in size and format to The Sibley Guide to Birds, the layout for this guide is another triumph of logic and concision. Species are arranged taxonomically, not by features such as leaf shape (as in most other guides), which will enable the user to browse the images to find a match for an observed tree in the same way a birder uses the bird guide. And all pages will follow the same format, allowing the user to pinpoint particular information with ease. David Sibley s meticulous, exquisitely detailed paintings illustrate the cycles of annual and lifetime development, and reveal even the very subtle similarities and distinctions between like elements of different species: bark, leaves, needles, cones, flowers, fruit, twigs, and silhouettes. More than four hundred maps show the complete range, both natural and cultivated, for nearly all the species. Issues of conservation, preservation, and environmental health are addressed in authoritative essays. As innovative, comprehensive, and indispensable as The Sibley Guide to Birds, this new book will set the standard of excellence in field guides to trees. 1.05 inches tall x 6.47 inches long x 9.76 inches wide ... Read more

Reviews

Good first impression, but ..., October 13, 2009
As someone who spends much of my free time poking about in the natural environment, has been an avid birder for over 35 years, and has a graduate degree in botany (ecology and systematics), I have used most of the major field guides and many of the more technical floras for North America. My hope was that this guide would be equivalent in importance to Sibley's bird guides.
The first things I do with a new plant guide is test it against a flora I'm familiar with and see what sort of identification keys are used. I didn't notice any errors or exclusions for the trees of Michigan, but using a common ID problem for this area, looked at the comparison between white and red/green ash. Sibley notes that red/green ash may have hairy twigs, but doesn't make clear that they may also have smooth twigs, as does white ash. He also doesn't point out that growth habit is often a good clue for distinguishing red/green from white ash, nor does he mention that some authorities now split red/green into two species. This is the sort of thing that makes me doubt the book's usefulness if someone tries to use it in an unfamiliar flora.
The biggest problem with this book, and I consider it to be significant, is the lack of identification keys. Although Sibley includes extensive illustrations of compound and lobed leaves in the beginning of the book, what does one do with an unfamiliar tree with a simple leaf? The only option is to start flipping through the pages, and that is a method that will lead to many misidentifications. Useful keying systems have been developed that don't require extensive knowledge of botanical terminology (e.g., Newcomb's system). Also, a glossary, or given Sibley's artistic gift, an illustrated glossary would be very helpful.
There are some good things about this book. It is the only book I'm aware of that includes all (or nearly all) the native and naturalized trees, and many or most of the commonly planted ornamentals found in North America. It also includes a number of shrub species that rarely take tree form (in fact, its inclusiveness of ornamentals and shrubs seems a bit far reaching and inconsistent). The art work is good, but I don't think Sibley's style is nearly as effective for trees as it is for birds.
This is an attractive book that presents basically sound information, but it seems to fall somewhere between a useful identification guide and an aesthetic celebration of trees. With a little tweaking and some editorial review by some botanists with regional or taxonomic specialties, this could be an awesome book.

Finally a real field guide for trees, October 3, 2009
I was very excited when I found Sibley's field guide for trees. I was secretly wishing that Sibley would produce a field guide for trees with the same level of detail as his guide to birds so I had been holding out for a long time to buy a field guide for trees. Sibley's field guide, unlike others, actually shows full color illustrations of each part (young/old bark, buds, flowers and most importantly, like he did with the bird guide, a full review of the different forms of a leaf of every tree). In just a few minutes of thumbing through the book I was able to ID a couple of trees that have been vexing me. Like Sibley did with birds, he has produced the definitive field guide to trees.

A work of art, October 9, 2009
The artwork in this book puts me in mind of David More's work in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees which covers trees grown in England and Europe. I remember wishing there was a book of that quality for North America. In August of this year (2009) I got my wish.

Sibley's guide is more portable than the aforementioned work. It's larger than the typical field guide but will fit into a backpack or can be left in the car.

What strikes me most about Sibley's guide is the illustrations of leaves and fruit. They are more lifelike than even photographs can be and they seem to jump off of the clear white paper. The text is brief but mentions fine points in identification that make it invaluable. The only fault I can find with the book is it should have more tree silhouettes. Even with that fault I find it the best overall guide with its clear and precise leaf and fruit illustrations.

A good guide, but not inclusive or thorough, November 29, 2009
This guide seems designed to sell rather than to be useful; to be looked at rather than used. It lacks some things that it really should have.

First, as pointed out by others, it needs some kind of key system for identification.

Most importantly, this book needs more than two or three sentences per tree. The distinguishing features listed are in many cases wholly insufficient to accurately and consistently identify the species. Sibley perhaps sees trees as being as simple to identify as birds; due to introgression, they are not. One or two features is not enough to go on. Often, very useful identification features are left out of his text. For example, in his description of rock elm, there is no mention of the growth form/tree shape, which is by far the most distinctive aspect of this tree, and the easiest way to identify it.

The selection of trees included is very odd indeed. While he says that "any plant species that is commonly over 30 feet tall with a trunk more than one foot thick is included in this guide," this is simply not true. Peachleaf willow, for example, grows to be more than three feet in diameter and seventy feet in height, but is oddly not included. While many questionable "trees" such as glossy buckthorn are included, others that average larger in size, such as black haw, are not. The blue elder of the mountain west is not discussed, even though it commonly grows in tree form and may stand 30 or more feet tall. While he excuses this erratic inclusion in the introduction by saying that "one could quibble endlessly over the definition of a tree," this seems like a cop-out. Other guides, like the old Outdoor Life guide by T. Elias, do not have this problem. A tree guide should at least cover the common and widespread species that regularly reach tree size, even if they are usually smaller; if it chooses to cover only some, there should be some logic or consistency in how this is done.

The three things that I have pointed out seem to have been left out to save space. This is probably the publisher's fault. I understand that many buyers want a small book, or a pocket guide. Less inclusive guides are made for them. People who want a thorough and inclusive tree guide need to realize that there are lots of trees and accept that such a guide will simply have to be physically large. The Sibley guide tries to be both small and thorough and simply fails. Another year of work and 150 more pages could make this book the best of its kind.

All that said, it's a good book. I was disappointed only because I expected it to be great. It is certainly better than its main competitors in this niche. I'd recommend, along with this, getting a more thorough guide that is specific to your region.

Not a field guide, October 28, 2009
This book is not suitable as a field guide, for two main reasons. First, the book is physically too large and heavy to be practical to carry around on long hikes. Second, there is no usable identification key for locating species. The paintings of leaves and trees are beautiful, but short of going page by page through large sections of the book, there is no way to quickly locate a particular tree. Compare this to the vastly superior decision tree and organization of the Peterson Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs, which lets you narrow your search to one or two candidate species in a matter of minutes by answering a series of yes/no questions about a leaf specimen. I wish Sibley had just donated his wonderful artwork to the Peterson series.

If You Buy 1 Field Guide to Trees, This Is It, November 12, 2009
This is an amazing book. It is not the most comprehensive guide, but covering more the most common half of tree species in North America, it would be quite unwieldy to tote around if Sibley were aiming at completeness. Sibley has arranged the trees by families, which is quite convenient for narrowing down what you are trying to identify. However, what makes this book such a fantastic companion is how he can pack the most relevant information, mainly in pictorial form, about each tree in a page or two. The illustrations of leaves (often both sides, some in fall colors), bark, twigs, seeds, nuts, acorns, flowers, etc. are geared to helping make a rapid identification. By using pictures, instead of lengthy descriptions, you can instantly compare the tree you are looking at to the species in the book. If you are interested about the trees in your back yard, the local park, or hiking through the forest, this guide can help you find out what you are looking at. Knowing the name, can then be the spring board to find out more our leafy friends.

Know your neighbors, November 1, 2009
As an Australian recently arrived in the USA, this book has been my savior. I pride myself on my knowledge of the Australian flora and fauna, and I was becoming increasingly frustrated by my ignorance of the trees that adorn my patch of Kentucky. I have looked at a lot of reference works on the American flora, but many are intended for the home library, not the backpack or glovebox, and those which are not are often too limited to provide anything other than a general idea of what one is looking at. "The Sibley Guide To Trees" bridges the gap.
I had not long been in this country when I bought "The Sibley Guide to Birds", which I use to confirm and expand on identifications I have made using my Falcon "The Easy Bird Guide: Eastern Region: A Quick Identification Guide for All Birders (Falcon Guide)". David Sibley's "Birds" set the standard for me and his "Guide To Trees" is of the same caliber.
Sibley provides enough initial detail to narrow the field when you're seeking to name a particular tree, but he limits the use of scientific terms only to those necessary to identification, always welcomed if you are turned off by references that appear too technical. Clear, annotated illustrations of flowers, fruit and leaves along with tree silhouettes and in some cases branch and twig details are great refinements - as are the illustrations of the fall colors displayed by some species, these could be the clincher in identifying members of large families.
A home-owner planning a native garden would also find this book a useful tool. Not only are average and maximum heights given, but the additional information will tell her how the garden might look throughout the year, leaf-color in fall, tree shape in winter and so on.
One small thing stopped me from giving this book 5 stars. I would like to see a symbol used to identify naturalized garden escapes and another for introduced species. Even so, I would rank "The Sibley Guide To Trees" at 4.5 stars if it were possible to do so.

Sibley guide to trees, December 14, 2009
Wow! I really like this book. It is easy to use and gives so much information to make it easier for a "newbie" like me to identify trees. The drawings are detailed with good descriptions. The quality of the book is great in every way.

The reason I like this book better than one on trees for my section of the country is that so many times I come across a tree that is "non-native" to my area and it is not listed in the other tree books. This book has native trees and common trees. I have found it very useful.

Ho Hum, November 12, 2009
I guess this would be useful if you needed a quick guide to identify every tree in the continental US. Descriptions are very skimpy and they often feature 2 or even 3 trees per page. For me, this book was a waste of money. If you're not planning to visit all 48 states you would be much better served by buying a good regional guide. I live in Maine and I find Trees of the Northern United States And Canada is much more useful as they devote 2 full pages to each tree.

Simple format, great illustrations, December 23, 2009
The Sibley Guide to Trees has a great format that has worked so well in wild life guide books, pertinent illustrations and well written descriptions. It even has a check list in the back like a birding book.

My only issue would be that the maps showing the range of the trees are very small and hard to use. But all in all, a great book that many people have picked up off my coffee table to browse. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A dramatic chronicle of Antarctica's penguins that bears witness to climate changes that foreshadow our own future

The towering mountains and iceberg-filled seas of the western Antarctic Peninsula have for three decades formed the backdrop of scientist Bill Fraser's study of Adélie penguins. In that time, this breathtaking region has warmed faster than any place on earth, with profound consequences for the Adélies, the classic tuxedoed penguin that is dependent on sea ice to survive. During the Antarctic spring and summer of 2005-2006, author Fen Montaigne spent five months working on Fraser's field team, and he returned with a moving tale that chronicles the beauty of the wildest place on earth, the lives of the beloved Adélies, the saga of the discovery of the Antarctic Peninsula, and the story—told through Fraser's work—of how rising temperatures are swiftly changing this part of the world. Captivated by the tale of these polar penguins and a memorable field season in Antarctica, readers will come to understand that the fundamental changes Fraser has witnessed in the Antarctic will soon affect our lives.

Reviews

Once you start reading you can't stop. A great read., December 1, 2010
I read this on Mac Kindle and that was an experience. Now this book is a must for anyone interested in the Antarctic Peninsula and the impact of global warming on this land and wildlife. This book focus is the Adelie penguin however the author brings in the history of antarctic exploration as background. I know I loved this because we are off to the area in mid December and this was the perfect book to read before the trip. Also here is a link to his Blog [...]

Riveting Antarctic Adventure, December 22, 2010
Fen Montaigne's account of the impact of climate change on adelie penguins in Antarctica is absorbing not only for its mastery of this troubling yet poignant subject but also its vivid writing and story telling drive. The redoubtable Adelie population is dwindling and the likely culprit is human reliance on fossil fuels. Montaigne spent five months with researchers in Antarctica monitoring the dwindling colony of adelies. He skillfully weaves the history of Antarctic exploration, the science of global warming and adelie population trends, and the quirky personalities of the scientists themselves into a vivid tale that resonates for its clarity and depth. What makes the book special is the author's own reactions to what he sees and feels, along with his writerly descriptions of the strange creatures that inhabit this ethereally beautiful world. Like all good adventure stories this is a tale of discovery where the reader becomes a fellow traveler of the author, seeing what he sees with the same sense of astonishment and awe. The book has all the elements of a classic.

Fantastic and moving read, December 12, 2010

THis book is riveting. The difficulties these penguins face are practically insurmountable and they seem doomed to exinction in our lifetime. What millions of years of evolution developed is being destroyed by human beings in a couple of lifetimes. We must stop and focus primarily on the ecological well being of this planet and the creatures we are lucky to share it with. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Take some of the mystery out of a walk in the woods with this new field guide from the author of Reading the Forested Landscape.Thousands of readers have had their experience of being in a forest changed forever byreading Tom Wessels’s Reading the ForestedLandscape. Was this forest once farmland?Was it logged in the past? Was there ever amajor catastrophe like a fire or a wind stormthat brought trees down?

Now Wessels takes that wonderful abilityto discern much of the history of the forestfrom visual clues and boils it all down to amanageable field guide that you can take outto the woods and use to start playing forestdetective yourself. Wessels has created a key—a fascinating series of either/or questions—to guide you through the process of analyzing what you see. You’ll feel like a woodlandSherlock Holmes. No walk in the woods willever be the same. 50 color photographs ... Read more

Reviews

Forest Forensics, November 7, 2010
Forest forensics is CSI meets AMC. This is wonderful book, if you live in the northeastern US or Canada and spend time in the outdoors. You will come to see the landscape around you in a whole new way - to read the history of the impacts of hurricanes, farming, logging etc. The book has clear descriptions tied to beautiful color plates, so you understand exactly what he's talking about. For example, only large rocks in rock wall indicate that the adjoining land was a hay field, small rocks indicate regular crop cultivation which causes small rocks to surface. Upon first read, even before you take to the field, you will begin to say "Ah ha", as you recall seeing various forms of rock fences, tree forms, or stumps. Not only does he help you read the events of the past, but date them. This book is very accessible and just plain fun. And best of all, while this book helps you answer lots of questions, your observations will reveal a new level of subtly and leave you with even more questions. If you enjoy the woods, whether kayaker, backpacker, weekend hiker or skier, buy this book. You will see the world around you in a new way.

Amazing book, October 31, 2010
If you spend any time in the outdoors and have wondered about what you are seeing, purchase this book. It will make your walks more enjoyable!

Note Your Geogrphic Location, December 15, 2010
Take note this book advises you it is for the NE of the United States. Before purchasing it make sure you will be in or close proximity to the NE or Canada. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

A fantastic and important read, March 3, 2010
This book blew me away. Incredible storytelling, amazing history. I'll never look at trout the same way again. If you like to fish or have any interest at all in environmental history and our relationship with the natural world, this book is a must read. I'd highly recommend it.

Excellent Read, March 5, 2010
Sometime within the past ten years or so I became interested in native fish. I have nothing against any species, I just like to see fish that are "supposed" to be in a watershed, in that watershed, not some other species occupying that water. This desire to find native species in their native range has taken my fishing buddy and me to some out-of-the-way little creeks--we're talking about places in the middle of the desert 100 miles from the nearest town. Creeks whose widths are measured in inches, not feet. But it doesn't seem to matter where we go, how far away from "civilization" we get, we still come across water stocked with non-native species. Many of these places were stocked long before motorized travel was possible. And I've wondered what possessed people to stock fish in such places.

Anders Halverson's new book, An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World, answers that question for me. In a fascinating look at the social and political maneuverings of the late nineteenth century through the present, Anders' meticulous research lays bare some interesting tidbits of the stocking policies of the United States.

One such gem is that the government was worried about the strength of the nation's men: that they had "notoriously less hardihood and endurance than the generation which preceded [their:] own" (George Perkins Marsh, congressman and diplomat from the mid-1800's). This description was given in a report by Marsh under the auspices of the Legislature of Vermont on the Artificial Propagation of Fish. He further stated that "the sports of the chase" (angling being one of them) was a way to increase the hardiness of the Americans. At this time, many waterways were already seeing a decline in fish numbers and the artificial propagation of fish was seen as a way to increase those numbers. With the urge to increase the robustness of its men, and the decline fish population the underpinnings were there for the introduction of non-native species.

Last year Eccles (from the Turning Over Small Stones blog) and I had a discussion about the terms "Fish and Game" and "Fish and Wildlife" as used in various agencies: Why were the terms "fish" and "game" separate? Shouldn't it just be Game or Wildlife, as in "Utah Game" or "US Wildlife Service" since fish are a type of game and fish are a type of wildlife? Anders informs us that by the 1870s congress formed the United States Fish Commission to help tackle the problem of declining fish stocks, thus becoming the first governmental agency involved with animal husbandry in the US. At a later time, the "game" and "wildlife" were added as the agency expanded. So, in my mind at least, this solves the mystery.

How the rainbow trout became the darling of the US Fish Commission, and just about every other angling agency in the world, is an interesting tale that Anders starts in San Francisco in 1872 with Livingston Stone looking for spawning salmon. He eventually found the McCloud River and began propagating salmon. By 1879 they were looking for a place on the McCloud to begin propagating trout as well. And they did, with astounding success.

Besides the historical ventures Anders skillfully and delightfully takes the reader on, he also dissects the biology of the stocking programs, covering the hardiness of a stock that is constantly used for breeding to whirling disease. He discusses the loss of native species and the response (or lack of it) of individual state fish and game departments, how some of them have switched from stocking to conservation.

This brings up an interesting problem that many fish and game departments need to tackle: what is their responsibility when sportsmen (who pay for licenses whose money is then possibly used to bankroll conservation and restoration instead of stocking), clamor for more catchable fish?

Through all of these topics Anders uses a reporters zeal for facts (there are approximately 475 sources listed in the bibliography) and detachment, thereby keeping an even keel on reporting the facts and not stepping on a soapbox to expound one particular side over another. Even with this professional detachment, there is a keen sense of understanding and compassion shown for the stories he tells. For, if nothing else (but there is a lot of "else"), the book is full of stories told with the storyteller's art.

Meddling with Nature, March 30, 2010
I know little about fish or fishing, but I know fisherman like to go for rainbow trout, a good fish to have at the end of your line or to have in your frying pan. The rainbow trout is found all over our nation, and stands for conservation, and unspoiled waters, and the bounty of nature when nature is not trammeled by humans. Except that it does not really stand for any of these things. Maybe fisherman know all about this already, but for me, the revelations in _An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World_ (Yale University Press) were a surprise. The author Anders Halverson is a journalist, and has a doctorate in ecology, and likes to fish. He has hunted all through historical documents of government and conservation organizations, and interviewed plenty of researchers and others who have helped make the rainbow trout ubiquitous, or who are now trying to reduce its range. This is not just a fish book. It is a carefully written history of how we think about our natural resources, and about the paradoxes and dangers of trying to control the natural world.

Rainbow trout are native to waters feeding into the Pacific, in an arc that extends up from northern Mexico, though the northeastern states, and over to far eastern Russia. That doesn't matter anymore. They have been introduced to the Atlantic states, and in fact to every state. The only reason they aren't in Antarctica is that there is a lack of trout streams there; they are now on every other continent. A century ago, American fishing gentlemen were convinced that standing by a stream with rod and line was going to maintain our citizens' virility and make our democracy stronger, but fish like the eastern brook trout were not able to withstand the pollution and higher temperatures we were inflicting on our streams. These men shunned the bottom-feeding catfish. They simply needed a better trout, and the rainbow was it. The states with streams to be stocked thought this was all dandy. A recent report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that if you spend a dollar on growing and stocking rainbows, you can expect thirty-two dollars back in hotel reservations, rod sales, and airplane tickets. Everyone knows (now) that if you move a species into a region in which it did not evolve, you are liable to change things in unexpected ways. Though rainbows were often imported with the idea of adding their diversity to the local fauna, they have decreased such diversity overall. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has acted intentionally to decrease the diversity so that the rainbow trout could prosper. In 1962, the service deliberately poisoned sections of the Green River in Utah and Wyoming with "piscicide" to get rid of the pesky fish that lived there naturally. There were some complaints by academics and ecologists at the time, but the chemical got dumped in the river, and the antidote that was supposed to be dumped downriver to neutralize it and keep it from heading on through National Parks properties didn't get there, and so there was even more of an ecological disaster. This was made worse as a public relations matter because three weeks later Rachel Carson's _Silent Spring_ was published, infuriating some constituents who would not let their representatives in Washington hear the last of it. There were four species of "trash fish" that were to be killed to let the rainbows in; all are now on the endangered species list.

Halverson's book, however, is not shrill about the many preposterous and presumptuous tinkerings with the environment that have been done for the sake of bringing more rainbows to our streams. There are few villains or fools in this story of the century since this unnatural fish has been taking over the world's fresh water systems. Many of the public servants profiled here, whether their decisions were good ones or not, were taking steps based on the best information they had at the time, with the intention of helping anglers, and with no prospect of making any material gain by their actions. Halverson tells many connected stories here in a convincing and fascinating book, and generally refrains from making judgments or regrets. There are inherent paradoxes anytime humans try to take control of nature. Fishermen may think that they are escaping from civilization by getting back to nature to pursue their prey, but it turns out the fish that many are pursuing are mere products of industrialization after all.

Amazing Story, March 20, 2010
I bought this book for my husband who is an avid fly-fisherman. After he was done, he convinced me to read it. I don't fish. But I LOVED this book. It's such an incredible story. So well written. And I learned so much about environmental history, US history, etc. I can't recommend it enough.

Excellent history of stocking rainbow trout, June 26, 2010
This book has a lot of detail but does not get bogged down nor is it boring. It is very engaging and will most likely be read very quickly. The main emphasis is on history with information on the science and technology of hatchery trout second. The author also talks a little about the future of trout and hatcheries.

An Important Book for all Cold Water Fisherman, April 2, 2010
The book is both a good read and provides, in some detail, a history and the resulting consequences of our attempts to manipulate nature in the form of a manufactured replacement fish for the fresh water fisheries we destroy or attempt to improve. The author is careful to provide the historic context under which decisions were made and to provide excellent notes and a bibliography. The latter contains much hard to find information and is likely worth the book price by itself. This book shoud be read by every thoughtful environmentally-concerned freshwater fisherman.

Even if you don't fish, this is a MUST read, March 5, 2010
In the few months since its publication, Anders Halverson's An Entirely Synthetic Fish has capture imaginations of a wide ranging audience - from avid fly fishers to the Diane Rehm Show, and rightfully so. In An Entirely Sythetic Fish, Halvers deftly tells the tale of how well intended programs have gone utterly wrong, putting the treasures of trout anglers at risk, while simultaneously spreading the joy of trout fishing around the globe.

The story of the rainbow trout is one of tinkering, and along the way we lost some of the parts. It begins in 1872 on California's McCloud River, where Spencer Baird, Livingston Stone and the fledgling United States Fish Commission sought to restore America's dwindling fish stocks, as well as American cultural virility, through the new science of fish culture. What started in the American West quickly became a global enterprise.

The native home of the rainbow spans the Pacific Rim, from Kamchatka to Mexico. Yet, through the waves of aesthetics, politics, and sporting organizations rainbow trout now swim on every continent, save Antarctica. In exploring that journey, Halverson tells a tale that is as much environmental history as it is American political history. We learn as much about key players like Stone as we do the fish itself, and how it was been steered by cultural values and financial gain, angler preferences and ecological manipulation. As an ecologist Halverson researched an engaging story filled with depth and critical insight and told with the deft skill of an accomplished journalist.

Halverson adds a refreshing and crucial perspective to that history. If you are interested in fishing history, fish biology, environmetnal or political history or simply want to read an intriguing story of the intricate relations between humans and animals this is a must read.

Hubris Begets Havoc, June 22, 2010

Environmental havoc that is.

This very good book is not just for anglers, ichthyologists, or other fishy folk; it's for anybody interested in environmental issues and man's interactions with nature.

Halverson tells the story (so over the top that sometimes it seems he's spinning a yarn) of the misplaced efforts to manipulate nature and "improve fisheries" through the widespread stocking of hatchery raised rainbow trout. In the 19th century fishing was seen as a means of protecting "dexterity in the arts of pursuit and destruction, courage and self-reliance". There was widespread concern that deterioration of these skills would compromise the nation's ability to "...maintain inviolate our rights and our liberties". As the author summarizes the prevailing mood at the time, "Say goodbye to recreational fishing, in other words, and say goodbye to American democracy".

Fishing at the time was threatened as a result of the wanton environmental destruction of the industrial revolution. And rather than dealing with the root causes, the government's response was aggressive stocking of rainbow trout, which were more resistant to poor water conditions than native species such as brook trout.

It's amazing to follow the chronicle of the various rationales that continued to support this practice to the present day. Also astonishing is the variety of unintended consequences of this activity, which has irretrievably altered ecosystems and eliminated native species in this country, and eventually around the world.

Halverson's style is engaging and accessible and he manages to avoid sanctimony in making his points. He approaches the whole subject with humility and a sense that the answers are not all known, and perhaps not knowable.

Hopefully a measure of humility will replace hubris as we steward the resources of our planet in the 21st century.

Highly recommended.

Public Choice Theory, March 12, 2010
When he was a high school student, my wife and I took Anders and his family fishing in our favorite British Columbia coastal river. He was already an accomplished fisherman, lover of the outdoors, and pleasant companion.

Two nights of reading are the equivalent of an excellent college course in the history and propagation management of trout in North America. Particularly interesting is the effect "public choice theory" has had on this course of events. One of the author's principal points is that laws are enacted assuming the administrating agencies will act rationally and in the public good. In reality however, their staffs are led subconsciously and consciously towards ends which meet their own perceived needs and this has greatly influenced the process.

What a Read!, October 6, 2010
Even for non-fishermen, this book has proven to be a compelling study of how we, as a society, make decisions with consequences far beyond our ability to imagine time and scale. Utterly readable, articulate, and enjoyable-- and a fabulous topic for restaurant dinners while eating the rainbow trout special. ... Read more

Editorial Review

If all measures of human advancement in the last hundred centuries were plotted on a graph, they would show an almost perfectly flat line—until the eighteenth century, when the Industrial Revolution would cause the line to shoot straight up, beginning an almost uninterrupted march of progress.
   
In The Most Powerful Idea in the World, William Rosen tells the story of the men responsible for the Industrial Revolution and the machine that drove it—the steam engine. In the process he tackles the question that has obsessed historians ever since: What made eighteenth-century Britain such fertile soil for inventors? Rosen’s answer focuses on a simple notion that had become enshrined in British law the century before: that people had the right to own and profit from their ideas.
   
The result was a period of frantic innovation revolving particularly around the promise of steam power. Rosen traces the steam engine’s history from its early days as a clumsy but sturdy machine, to its coming-of-age driving the wheels of mills and factories, to its maturity as a transporter for people and freight by rail and by sea. Along the way we enter the minds of such inventors as Thomas Newcomen and James Watt, scientists including Robert Boyle and Joseph Black, and philosophers John Locke and Adam Smith—all of whose insights, tenacity, and ideas transformed first a nation and then the world.
 
William Rosen is a masterly storyteller with a keen eye for the “aha!” moments of invention and a gift for clear and entertaining explanations of science. The Most Powerful Idea in the World will appeal to readers fascinated with history, science, and the hows and whys of innovation itself.
  ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Stunning look at the majesty of Africa, September 23, 2009
A Shadow Falls must be considered one of the most important works in Wildlife Art. Each photograph reads beautifully, and the scenery provides much more than a backdrop, it propels the viewer into the scene. The treatments applied to each image enhance the mood of the shot beautifully and show that the artist felt the scene as he captured it. Many scenes are so powerful as to truly humble the viewer. The scale of the book, its layout, and the procession of imagery is perfect. My only comment is that it would be nice for an artist's proof version to be released in the highest possible quality, as this would take the book to a neww level

I thoroughly enjoyed A Shadow Falls and would recommend the book for yourself, or as a gift to a family member or friend. It will be appreciated forever.

Unsurpassed photography. An intimate encounter., October 16, 2009
I am not the most eloquent of people, but Nick Brandt's work tends to make me wax more lyrical than anything else does. My wife bought me his first book a few years ago, and I literally had tears in my eyes looking through the pages. I thought that Nick would be unable to top that book, but I was wrong.
A Shadow Falls is a masterpiece of photography, and brings those who look at these images closer to the soul of the animals than any Nat Geo show ever could. Each image feels like an intimate encounter, like it's just you, and the animal, alone in the wild. You can almost sense that they know you are looking at them. They are allowing you to be so close. It's personal.
Nick does not use zoom lenses, or telephotos, so all the images bring you right up where he was. The startling detail of the king of the beasts, the lion, or the majestic herds of elephants making their treks in search of water, portrayed in a manner that tells a story. They're not just photos, they're so much more.
As a musician (and part time photographer), I always ask people what 5 albums would they want to have on their iPod if they were stranded on a desert island. By the same token, I know what book I would want by my side should I ever find myself in that predicament.
A Shadow Falls.

Majestic photography of African wildlife., September 20, 2009
Another book of Nick Brandt. About 20% bigger than his book 'On this earth', and Brandt's photo's deserve that. Almost unbelievable, astonishing photo's, portraits of African wildlife. Perfectly printed. If you love black and white photo's, or if you love African wildlife, or if you love portrait photography, this book is a must-have. Really.

Beauty Beyond Words, October 9, 2009
There are no words that can fully describe the feeling you get when looking at Nick Brandt's masterful photography in his newest book, A Shadow Falls. The pictures literally take your breathe away and makes your heart race. He captures the incredible beauty of Africa's treasures and one truly understands why it is so great to be alive on this earth. Thank you Nick, for letting us all see through your incredible eyes and heart.

Simply Beautiful...., October 8, 2009
Yet another masterpiece from Nick Brandt!! For any of his devotees such as myself, I have been patiently awaiting his followup to "On This Earth" and he certainly did not disappoint! The images are absolutely beautiful and surreal and haunting. It is a definite reminder to us all that the African wildlife he depicts in his books are both stunning and sadly doomed at the same time. Every accolade that Nick Brandt receives is completely deserved. He is an absolute master behind the camera and we are all lucky to be able to see Africa through his eyes. If you purchased "On This Earth" you MUST buy "A Shadow Falls" too! Absolutely my favorite present-day artist.

Buy this book!, January 4, 2010
These are the best photographs of animals in the wild in Africa that I have ever seen.They are poetic evocations of the spirit and beauty of some of the last vestiges of wildlife in the world. If you are longing to go on safari but can't find a way, this book will transport you. If you have gone on safari and want a reminder of the wonders that you have seen this is the book for you,

Unique!, November 23, 2009
if you like photography B&W (sepia) and love animals this is the book for you. Peaceful images but at the same time the impact is strong. Poetic, stunning.... you can look at them for hours. I was luck to see an exhibition in New York of his pictures and could have bought at least 3-4 prints (if I would have won the lottery).
This is a book for people who LOVE art, photography or even just plain beautiful pictures !!! the best book I have bought after one of Avedon's or Salgado's books.
you will love it

This is a real keeper, November 15, 2009
Every page in this book is stunning almost to the point of being hypnotic. I highly recommend it for your personal collection or as a gift for anybody that likes photography or that just appreciates raw beauty. It might even be worth buying two copies, one for cutting the pages out and framing them and the other to keep.

Fabulous Photography!, September 10, 2010
There are not words to express the beauty of these photographs. With professionalism, expertise, patience, and sensitivity, these photographs capture a spirituality of these gorgeous creatures, every single one. How lucky we are! This photographic experience is transporting. The decisive moment. Thank you, Nick Brandt! Let us hope that these beautiful creatures will long remain.

Magnificent work, August 31, 2010
I've become a big fan of Nick Brandt's work after a good photographer friend of mine mentioned him. I'm also a photographer and I can truly appreciate the skill and patience it took to capture these images. A shadow falls has a permanent place on my coffee table! I'm mesmerized by it looking through it again and again, as have all my guests. Wish I had close to as many amazing images from my safari in Kenya. But, no matter since I can enjoy Nick's. Last page Lion waiting for the storm...wow! Worth every penny...enjoy! ... Read more

Editorial Review

First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water.�"Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for�Time"s 100 Most Influential People of the Century). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson"s watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson"s courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Welcome to the savage and surprising world of Zoo Story, an unprecedented account of the secret life of a zoo and its inhabitants, both animal and human. Based on six years of research, the book follows a handful of unforgettable characters at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo: an alpha chimp with a weakness for blondes, a ferocious tiger who revels in Obsession perfume, and a brilliant but tyrannical CEO known as El Diablo Blanco.

Zoo Story crackles with issues of global urgency: the shadow of extinction, humanity's role in the destruction or survival of other species. More than anything else, though, it's a dramatic and moving true story of seduction and betrayal, exile and loss, and the limits of freedom on an overcrowded planet--all framed inside one zoo reinventing itself for the twenty-first century.

Thomas French, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, chronicles the action with vivid power: Wild elephants soaring above the Atlantic on their way to captivity. Predators circling each other in a lethal mating dance. Primates plotting the overthrow of their king. The sweeping narrative takes the reader from the African savannah to the forests of Panama and deep into the inner workings of a place some describe as a sanctuary and others condemn as a prison. All of it comes to life in the book's four-legged characters. Even animal lovers will be startled by the emotional charge of these creatures' histories, which read as though they were co-written by Dickens and Darwin.

Zoo Story shows us how these remarkable individuals live, how some die, and what their experiences reveal about the human desire to both exalt and control nature. ... Read more

Reviews

A book that delivers on several fronts, July 25, 2010
If you ever went to the zoo as a kid or parent, if you've ever had a pet or debated animal rights with friends, if you ever watched office (or life) politics and wondered why people behave the way they do, you'll find insights galore in Tom French's stunning "Zoo Story." French, a world-class reporter and storyteller, goes inside one zoo to tell us a much bigger story about man and beast, about man's impact on the natural world, about the real meaning of "wild," about social dynamics, and so much more. He writes with the speed and grace of the antelope, the quirky character of the monkey, the power of the tiger, and the wisdom of the elephant. He also, for you journalists out there, footnotes his reporting in a way that is an education all its own.

Fascinatingly Unique Perspective, August 5, 2010
What a wonderful and interestingly unique read! I was wonderfully absorbed and could not put this book down. I bought two more copies to share with others and notified my library to please recommend it highly. I loved it! It broke my heart, made me laugh, taught me so many interesting thigs, and I will have a new-found respect for zoo-keepers next time I go. As a general rule, I avoid zoo's like the plague, as I am on the side of not keeping these animals held prisoner. However, I will visit the zoo in this book....I just have to!

For all animal lovers, July 27, 2010
This book will surely tug at your heartstrings, while also making you think. It'll make you more thoughtfully consider zoos and what they do, whether you love or hate them. This is an unbiased look at the balance between conservation and captivity, and it makes one think about the environment and our responsibility to it and to animals. An important book.

Great story, August 12, 2010
Yeah, it's brilliantly reported, and true it deals with Big Issues, but Zoo Story is far more than that. It's a really good story. If you want a compelling tale with interesting characters, tautly told, get it. The extra-special bonus: It'll make you think.

Love, sex, power and death at the zoo, July 27, 2010
This meticulously reported and smartly written book will make you think in new ways about animals, human beings, and our respective places in the world. But far from being an "issues" book, "Zoo Story" describes a time of profound drama at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, the site of shocking and tragic events while author Tom French was there. This an unforgettable read, and every word is true.

An important story for our times, August 22, 2010
I have watched Tom French grow as a writer for many years now. His earlier works of narrative non-fiction, Unanswered Cries and South of Heaven, began as groundbreaking serial narratives in the St. Petersburg Times. Tom tested the boundaries of what was possible in newspaper writing and established standards that would earn him a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.

His new book, Zoo Story, achieves an even higher level. I would equate it with nonfiction books such as Blackhawk Down and The Looming Tower, works that seem to achieve the perfect combination of reporting, writing, and critical analysis. Tom combines these elements seamlessly into a work that challenges our notion of what freedom means, what nature imposes and requires, and whether human beings deserve any "dominion" over animals.

I once wrote: "I'll read a better book on zoos and wild animals when elephants fly." Except in Zoo Story, they do!

A behind-the-scenes look at the zoo, August 12, 2010
I like zoos. Sorry to be so simple, but I liked them when I was a child, and now as a parent, I still enjoy going there and pointing out the different types of animals to my children. This book details all the red tape, along with the commitment of the zoo keepers, it takes to bring different species to the zoo and how to handle to them once they are there. Many of us see the elephants, but we do not see the story behind how they got there and do not realize the caring and dedication of the people behind the scenes. I enjoyed reading about the relationships between the animals and their caretakers. A very well written book, it combines both facts about the animals as well as emotional stories. Highly recommended for any one who enjoys a visit to the zoo - you will think twice about the animals that are on display.

wonderful book, July 27, 2010
I can't say enough good things about this book. I read it in three days--it's impossible to put down. The prose are beautiful and the characters touching. A great summer read.

Moving and remarkable story, July 27, 2010
Highly recommended for animal lovers, armchair philosophers, and people who just love good nonfiction. A moving and remarkable story that really makes you think. Beautifully told.

Moving, provocative, fascinating, July 23, 2010
Using a zoo as a microcosm for our embattled planet, French's vivid, engaging portrait of the zoo and its inhabitants is a must-read for animal lovers, fans of natural history, and admirers of first-rate narrative non-fiction. French's book offers a fascinating meditation on the relationship between humans and animals, one that is not soon forgotten. ... Read more

Editorial Review

One of the Best Books of the Year

The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Kansas City Star, The Chicago Tribune, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

In this monumental biography, acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley examines the life and achievements of Theodore Roosevelt, our "naturalist president," and his tireless crusade for the American wilderness—a legacy now more important than ever.

Reviews

A tour de force on Roosevelt the Environmental Activist, August 1, 2009
I'm sure many of you are wondering whether we really need another biography of Theodore Roosevelt. After all, there has been a spate of other biographies on the man, from Edmund Morris' Theodore Rex to Kathleen Dalton's Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life. In short, the answer is YES, this is an essential TR biography. Even if you have read all of those other books (as I have), Douglas Brinkley's The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America is a vital addition to our understanding of TR as a man, a politician, and an environmental activist.

Brinkley's The Wilderness Warrior argues that Teddy Roosevelt was not simply a politician who cared about nature, but that his life as a naturalist permeated his entire outlook on life and use of political power. He goes further by arguing that TR was a committed preservationist who sought to protect nature forever, not just a "utilitarian" conservationist who sought to protect natural resources for later exploitation - despite his affinity for hunting.

The first part of the book documents TR's fascination with wildlife and the outdoors as a young child. Even by the age of 10, he had established a small "museum" of his favorite wildlife specimens (which he later donated to the Smithsonian and American Museum of Natural History). Brinkley portrays a young TR excitedly studying the radula (mouthparts) of small mollusks - hardly what one would imagine as the hobby of a future president. Brinkley also digs up some less appreciated influences on young TR. For example, he shines a light on Robert B. Roosevelt, TR's "black sheep" uncle who became a prominent advocate for fish conservation in New York and probably played a key role in encouraging TR's activism. Right up until college, Brinkley recalls how TR seemed destined for a career as a biologist. However, at Harvard, he became bored with lab biology and found another avocation - politics.

The next chapters show how TR continued his passion for nature even while pursuing a political career. Some of the stories - such as his trips to the Badlands after his mother and first wife Alice both died - are well known, but Brinkley fills them with rich detail. More interesting are the events that receive scant attention in most TR biographies. Even after spending years immersed in U.S. environmental history, I never realized that TR had founded the very first nationally effective environmental advocacy NGO (the Boone and Crocket Club). Brinkley brings this group to life by recalling the personalities in the group, such as naturalist George Bird Grinnell, and the groups publications. Throughout this, TR wrote acclaimed books about the American West, his hunting exploits, and endangered species. It is fascinating to see TR heatedly debating species classification with the government biologist C. Hart Merriam, while TR was serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (and many biologists now agree with TR's position no less!). In short, as Brinkley makes clear, even if he had never become president, TR would have been an important historical figure in raising awareness of the natural heritage of the American West.

However, of course TR was destined to play a much greater role as president. Much of the rest of the book shows how TR used the presidency to advance what Brinkley considers the most ambitious and meaningful conservationist agenda in U.S. history. At the stroke of a pen, TR would designate vast tracts of U.S. wilderness as National Refuges. When deciding to make Pelican Island, Florida, a Federal Bird Reservation, TR simply stated "I So Declare It"! In the end, Brinkley notes that TR not only protected some of our most important natural sites, such as the Grand Canyon, but also pushed for the laws and improvised the tools that would allow future presidents to follow in his footsteps.

One things I really love about this book is that it stays focused on TR the naturalist. With a personality as engaging as Teddy Roosevelt, there is material enough to fill several biographies (not that this book is short - it's over 800 pages!). Fortunately, Brinkley never meanders too far into other aspects of TR's life, which means the book remains fresh. Every page has a new and exciting anecdote that is probably unfamiliar to all but hardcore TR fans. Furthermore, by staying so close to his theme, Brinkley shows just how deeply conservationist philosophies pervaded TR's life. For example, TR fell in love with Darwin's theories of evolution at a young age and later used them to justify his foreign policy exploits. After reading this book, I came away with a renewed appreciation of TR as a politician and a man (could you ever imagine George Bush or Barack Obama "roughing it" out West?).

On the other hand, anybody interested in U.S. political history or environmentalism will find this book a treasure trove. Brinkley provides enough background on TR and U.S. history at the time so readers can follow along. Moreover, he writes well and makes every incident an adventure. The book has everything from hunting tales to political campaigning to battle skirmishes. Rather than feeling like 800 pages, you'll wish Brinkley had added another 400.

In fact, my only criticism of the book is that Brinkley should have kept on writing. I know the poor guy had to finish the book somewhere. The book ends when TR leaves the presidency in 1908, but the adventures didn't stop there. TR took trips to East Africa and the Amazon River in Brazil on hunting and scientific expeditions. Surely these influenced TR's views of nature. Fortunately, Candice Millard's The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey and TR's own African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Natrualist cover these exploits. However, I would have been interested in learning more about TR's 1912 campaign as the Bull Moose candidate from The Wilderness Warrior's conservationist perspective. Hopefully, Brinkley can add some commentary in a revised edition on these episodes and how they influenced TR's views on conservation.

In short, I can't recommend this book enough. It is something rare in biographies of famous politicians - it is both well-written and original. However, don't take my word - check out this brief excerpt from Vanity Fair earlier this summer: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/05/teddy-roosevelt-excerpt200905. In addition, if you like this book, you might also want to read Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism (Pioneers of Conservation), about TR's righthand man in the U.S. Forest Service.

TR: Conservationist, environmentalist and the first "Green" President, August 10, 2009
Theodore Roosevelt's life was packed so full with so many interests it's easy for an author to focus on one aspect of it rather than writing a sprawling biography. Brinkley opts to focus on Teddy the conservationist and environmentalist for "The Wilderness Warrior" and there is no shortage of material to draw from as Roosevelt was drawn to nature from the time he was a child. The subject of Roosevelt's interest in nature has been touched on in other sprawling biographies by Nathan Miller, Edmund Morris and others, but few have focused as specifically on Roosevelt's environmentalism quite as well or as in-depth as Brinkley does here. Like many Victorians, Roosevelt was typically eclectic, collecting and preserving specimens of a wide variety of animals which he prominently displayed in his homes, jokingly calling it the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History." He also kept a wide variety of unusual pets and this interest in the biodiversity of the environment around him was likely spurred by what he was reading as much as by the rapidly changing world around him. But that eclectic interest changed to serious ambition when Roosevelt ventured to the Dakotas in the late 1880s.

There is a tendency to think that Roosevelt's interest in conservationism lay dormant from his time in the Dakotas until he became President, but in reality nothing could be further from the truth; which ultimately is part of why Brinkley wrote this book. Rather than compartmentalizing conservationism, it was an essential part of Roosevelt's core being and beliefs, something Brinkley makes quite clear. Freed of having to tell the whole story of Roosevelt's life Brinkley is able to focus on how conservationism was always near and dear to Roosevelt's heart and informed much of his life. And while Roosevelt's early interest in nature and travels to the Dakotas have been told countless times before, there is a freshness here that is found in Brinkley's other books. Brinkley is able to explore Roosevelt's fascination with nature in far greater detail than other authors would have dared that allows readers to see Roosevelt as though for the first time. Brinkley is also freed to focus on Roosevelt's activism once he becomes President without having to wade into covering all the other aspects of his presidency. Perhaps the strangest part is that Brinkley largely ends with Roosevelt's presidency. This is so strange especially since Roosevelt's ill-fated trip down the Amazon would have been a rather fitting coda for this story. Perhaps Brinkley felt "River of Doubt" covered that sufficiently and wanted Roosevelt to go out on a high note. It certainly doesn't detract from the book and it's rare that I would ever say 800+ pages left me wanting more, but that is indeed the case here. "The Wilderness Warrior" reads like the adventure that it is. There is more detail crammed in here then I ever imagined and yet it is one of the best biographies on Roosevelt I've ever read, despite narrowly focusing on one aspect of his very exciting and action packed life. If anything it will make readers wish for another environmentalist like Theodore Roosevelt to come along; what we've had since then have by and large been pale imitators.

Simply the BEST book on Teddy Roosevelt !!!!!, August 1, 2009
WOW. Its rare I get a book and sit and leaf thru it in complete awe. This is a book I have wanted for so so long.In fact I plan on buying extra copies for my county library system, since we here in the Sierras in Mark Twain country, so appreciate top books with such wonderful research and information that is so well written that you literally do NOT want to put the book down. And its a book that you will read and re read and re read and get something new from each time you read it.

Having grown up in a wild west, environmentalist mined family where when we backpacked we got daily lectures on leaving an area so that it looked like we have never been there, Theodore Roosevelt was akin to my families favorite relative, university professor, religious advisor and common sense favorite friend. And this book shows we were right on.

Douglas Brinkley is an A+ author and one can only imagine the hours, days, months and years he put into researching Theodore Roosevelt, because the book covers ALL areas of the United States and even international areas that the President lived and fought for. And reading the book you get the sense you are there, listening to the President demand we care for the earth and the open spaces this great country offers.

Especially interesting to me is how during the past election we heard candidates from different political parties evoke the name of Teddy Roosevelt, yet in reading the book one wonders just how much did or do these folks even know of the man. And I so hope the book will light a fire under people to demand that we always fun the open spaces we have as parks and natural preserves. And I didn't even know West Virginia had a state of the art naturalist center for the Fish and Wildlife folks under the Department of the Interior.

And the books is honest in pointing up the few mistakes Teddy Roosevelt made, while also noting he was probably the last or even one of the few totally honest Presidents we have had. He was known to have never lied. And while he did hunt and fish, as my family does, he also understood well the role of herd management in a responsible and humane manner.

As a walk the talk conservative I remind people that conserve and conservation go hand in hand with me being a conservative.

An invigorating read, September 7, 2009
I found Douglas Brinkley's Wilderness Warrior an invigorating read. Although this is the first Brinkley book I have attempted and my first biographical encounter with TR, I was captivated and refreshed to learn about the President's passion for science, nature, and the outdoors, especially as an American city-dweller living abroad. Brinkley has offered a vast and timely contribution to the debate about the role of policy and leadership in preservation.

Masterful, September 6, 2009
To help us know where we are going, we must know from where we have come. Not only has Brinkley written a book on Roosevelt's deep interest in the environment, he has captured the tenor of our times -- the environmental movement that is happening today. We can tackle issues like renewable energy, oil exploration, climate change, with a firm understanding about the birth of the American conservation movement.

In a word, this book is masterful. It is an epic, yes, epic collection of detailed stories, vignettes, anecdotes that are veritable mosaic on Roosevelt's life. He deconstructs Teddy the myth and refashions him as a compassionate, daring, and bewildering person. Brinkley captured my attention in the opening passage. The closest thing to a page turner that I've come across in quite a while.

Fact check please!, October 26, 2009
This book reads like a master's thesis from a third-rate college - cut and paste with little regard for "facts" drawn from secondary sources. To give two examples:
page 62: "It was also exciting that Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln ... had both been on February 22, 1803". Wrong. They were both born on February 12, 1809.
page 135: "The outlaw Jesse James had launched his career as a notorious bank robber in 1876, just over 200 miles down the road in Northfield, Minnesota". Wrong. Jesse James was active as a bank robber in the period 1866-1876 (named as an "outlaw" in 1869) and went into temporary retirement AFTER the ill-fated Northfield robbery.
Frankly, it's hard to trust anything as "fact" in this overly long tome.

A tour de force on Roosevelt the Environmental Activist, August 3, 2009
I have been truly inspired by this book - inspired by the grandeur of this country, inspired by the potential of good governance, inspired to read more on the topic of early conservationists and inspired to visit and revisit our national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges and forests. Unfortunately, this brilliant book is marred by numerous typos and other errors. Some are errors of fact, e.g.: erroneous birth dates for Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin; there are misspellings, sentences missing words and just plain sloppiness (e.g.: listing the state of Montana twice in one sentence which lists several states). I hope this book will be edited before it goes to its next printing. Other than that, I highly recommend this book.

Wilderness Warrior Indeed!!!, September 6, 2009
Mr. Brinkley continues in his uncanny ability in writing the right history at the right moments.

With the ever increasing damages caused by American environmental policy and the seemingly endless gridlock in forging new environmental policy, Mr. Brinkley brings us back to America's original environmental policy wonk. Except by doing so we are allowed to see that Theodore Roosevelt, drawing on his early experience as a youth, created environmental protection not in any wonkish type way, or out of compromise with foreign/domestic oil, not our of a desire to promote nature over business, but due to a deep sense of patriotism.

Its a lesson Republicans and Democrats need to learn and learn quickly. By focusing on TR's environmental history, Brinkley focuses correctly on what is most important in his legacy and at a time when bringing a focus to that legacy and the origins of TR's thought is very much needed.

Thank you for another piece of history shedding light on pressing current problems and demands Mr. Brinkley!

great big summer time read, August 6, 2009
A book TR himself would appreciate. Warning this is a big book 900 or so pages but so enjoyable you will zoom through the first 100 pages in one sitting. Mr Brinkley is one of my favorite writers. It is apparent from the information in this book that the material was gathered over a long period of time and tuned like a fine violin. I do wish there had been more illustrations and less quoting other work. But this is a fine educational book and one that needs to be read by All Americans - what TR did to preserve our national treasures will live on forever. ... Read more