Earth Sciences, Geography & Environment Books

Book SynopsisSounding an alarm over the potential extinction of many albatross species, this book encourages individuals, environmental groups, fishery oversight bodies, and governments to create sustainable management practices for whole ocean ecosystems.Table of Contents Foreword by H.R.H. Prince of Wales Acknowledgments Introduction by John Croxall Milestones: Albatross Encounters and Concerns Chapter One. Storytelling Part I: The Albatross Chapter Two. Plunder Chapter Three. Science Chapter Four. Connections Chapter Five. Home Chapter Six. Family Part II: Crossings Chapter Seven. Migration Chapter Eight. Globalization Chapter Nine. Commons Part III: Birds and Fish Chapter Ten. Fish Chapter Eleven. Management Chapter Twelve. Crisis Chapter Thirteen. Bycatch Part IV: Sea Change Chapter Fourteen. Links Chapter Fifteen. Engineering Chapter Sixteen. Turning Point Part V: Agents of Change Chapter Seventeen. Fishers Chapter Eighteen. Governments Chapter Nineteen. Nongovernmentals Chapter Twenty. Trade Chapter Twenty-one. Celebrities Chapter Twenty-two. Capstone Conclusion. Hope Appendix: CCAMLR and Seabird Mortality Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this remarkable collection of essays, Stephen Harrigan explores, with an unfailing depth of feeling, the human longing to feel at home in the world of nature.Table of ContentsPreface Morning Light On the Edge The Secret Life of the Beach Life behind Bars The Perfect River Going into the Desert Isla Del Padre What Texas Means to Me

Read more less

Book SynopsisCorrelating climate change and archaeological data, an award-winning historian offers the first comprehensive overview of how the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age significantly impacted the Native cultures of the American Southwest, Southern PlTrade Review"Climate and Culture Change in North America AD 900-1600 is an ambitious synthesis of archaeological and historical evidence concerning the effects of climate on human societies...The book is suitable for a range of audiences and I think it could make a good text for a course on climate and culture change or one on North American archaeology...The book deserves to be read as a beginning point for a long, thoughtful discussion about climate and culture change in North America and is a welcome addition to the literature on the subject." -- Staff The Midcontinental Journal of ArchaeologyTable of Contents Preface Introduction Chapter 1. The Tenth Century Chapter 2. The Eleventh Century Chapter 3. The Twelfth Century Chapter 4. The Thirteenth Century Chapter 5. The Fourteenth Century Chapter 6. The Fifteenth Century Chapter 7. The Sixteenth Century Summary and Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first study of social processes in contemporary highland Maya communities to encompass a regional view of the highlands of Chiapas as a system.Table of Contents Preface 1. Introduction 2. Forms of Land Utilization 3. Land and the Family 4. Land Inheritance in Apas 5. Soil Erosion in Chamula 6. Marginality 7. Ethnicity 8. The Refuge-Region Hypothesis 9. National Indianism and Indian Nationalism 10. Conclusion Appendix: Methodology Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe award-winning author of The End of Country: Dispatches from the Frack Zone offers a lively, thought-provoking overview of climate change from the perspectives of people who are dealing with it on the ground.Trade Review"This title deserves a wide and varied readership; it has the power to change minds." * Booklist *"The author may have found that there is reason to despair on the legislative level, but fortunately, he also found more openness to finding common ground among common folks. . . . [He] provides plenty of reasons for optimism because it is clear that people are not ignoring this issue." * Austin American-Statesman *"(McGraw’s) story illustrates how the debate over fracking has ascended to the level of abortion or same-sex marriage as an indicator of political tribe. Those with agendas on either side can obscure the climate benefits of natural gas, the fossil fuel with the smallest carbon footprint, or downplay the real environmental hazards that fracking can cause." * The Times-Tribune *"Effectively blending story, science, and context, this engaging, readable book will be invaluable for those studying or working on issues associated with climate change, especially those with a social science or policy focus." * Choice *Table of Contents1. Sundance2. Comfortable in Our Ignorance3. Kindergarten in a Fallout Shelter4. Preaching to the Choir5. Running from a Grizzly in Your Slippers6. The Other White Meat7. Flying by Wire8. Notes from the Ivory Clock Tower9. "I Never Met a Liberal Before"10. The Year the Creeks Stopped Freezing11. "It's What I Do"12. Penguins Tumbling Off an Ice SheetAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this book, longtime park visitor and professional geographer Bob O'Brien explores the National Park Service's attempt to achieve sustainabilitya balance that allows as many people as possible to visit a park that is kept in as natural a sTable of Contents Preface 1. Introduction 2. Nature of the System 3. History Case Study: Yellowstone National Park 4. Preserving the Parks from Commercial Use 5. External Threats Case Study: Grand Canyon National Park 6. Wilderness Case Study: Denali National Park 7. Wildlife 8. Visitation 9. Recreational Land Use Case Study: Canyonlands National Park 10. Care and Feeding of Visitors Case Study: Yosemite National Park 11. Administration, Politics, and Finance Case Study: Grand Teton National Park 12. Conclusions Notes Selected Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis insightful study examines Mexico’s oil crisis and the communities affected by the decline of Cantarell, the nation’s aging supergiant offshore oilfieldTable of Contents Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1. Peaks and Declines Chapter 1. The Mexican Oil Crisis Chapter 2. Natural Resources in the Laguna de Términos: Piracy and Profit Part 2. The Pesquera and the Petrolera Chapter 3. The Peak and Decline of Fishing in the Laguna de Términos Chapter 4. Capturing Compensation: Resource Wealth in the Era of Decline Part 3. Post-Peak Politics: Energy Reform and the Race to Claim the Gulf of Mexico Chapter 5. “No to Privatization”: A Battle for Energy Independence Chapter 6. Energy Security on the U.S.-Mexican Maritime Border: Transboundary Oil in the Deepwater Gulf Conclusion: Post-Peak Futures Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis interdisciplinary work explores the complex intersections of technology, class, gender, and ecology in the transnational milieu of Mexico's maquiladoras.Trade ReviewPeña's book, the result of more than ten years of field research, delineates the political, cultural, and environmental effects of Mexico's borderside maquiladoras.... Through his critique of these foreign-owned assembly plants, Peña argues persuasively for the implementation of new methods of economic growth that may be both ecologically sustainable and culturally appropriate, and therefore beneficial to communities on both sides of the border. * Hispanic *Table of Contents List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Part One. The Terror of the Machine 1. “No Terrors, to a Certain Kind of Mind” 2. From Dark, Satanic Mills to Maquilas 3. (Mis)Measuring the Ignorant Part Two. Terrains of Struggle 4. Like Turtles on the Line 5. The Mirror of Exploitation Part Three. Mothers of Invention 6. Mexican Thinkwork 7. Marginality as Inventive Force Part Four. Back to the Future 8. Mexico in the Fast Lane? 9. Promised Land or Wasteland? Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword: Climate Change and the Uses of History / Paul S. Sutter Acknowledgments Introduction | Making Climate Change History Part One | The Scientific “Prehistory” of Global Warming 1. Joseph Fourier, “General Remarks on the Temperatures of the Globe and the Planetary Spaces” (1824) 2. John Tyndall, “The Bakerian Lecture: On the Absorption and Radiation of Heat by Gases and Vapours, and on the Physical Connexion of Radiation, Absorption, and Conduction” (1861) 3. Svante Arrhenius, “On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground” (1896) 4. G. S. Callendar, “The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and Its Influence on Temperature” (1938) Part Two | The Cold War Roots of Global Warming 5. Roger Revelle and Hans E. Suess, “Carbon Dioxide Exchange between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase of Atmospheric CO2 during the Past Decades” (1957) 6. Roger Revelle, Testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations, February 8, 1956 7. Roger Revelle, Testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations, May 1, 1957 8. Howard T. Orville, “The Impact of Weather Control on the Cold War” (1958) 9. National Science Foundation, Preliminary Plans for a National Center for Atmospheric Research (1959) Part Three | Making Global Warming Green 10. The Conservation Foundation, Implications of Rising Carbon Dioxide Content of the Atmosphere (1963) 11. President’s Science Advisory Committee, Restoring the Quality of Our Environment (1965) 12. Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III, The Limits to Growth (1972) 13. Study of Man’s Impact on Climate, Inadvertent Climate Modification (1971) 14. The Sierra Club, “International Committee Questionnaire—Five Year Plan” (1976) 15. Michael McCloskey, “Criteria for International Campaigns” (1982) 16. National Climate Program Act of 1978 17. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Advisory Group on Climate Meeting, May 26, 1978 18. David Slade, “Action Flow, U.S. Carbon Dioxide Research and Assessment Program” (1979) 19. David Slade, Letter to David Burns (1980) 20. Al Gore, Testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology, July 31, 1981 21. Rafe Pomerance, testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology, February 24, 1984 Part Four | Climate Change As Controversy 22. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, “A Study of Climatological Research as It Pertains to Intelligence Problems” (1974) 23. S. I. Rasool and S. H. Schneider, “Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Aerosols: Effects of Large Increases on Global Climate” (1971) 24. Reid Bryson, “A Perspective on Climate Change” (1974) 25. Stephen H. Schneider, The Genesis Strategy (1976) . Helmut E. Landsberg, “Review: The Genesis Strategy—Climate and Global Survival” (1976) Stephen H. Schneider and Helmut E. Landsberg, “Forum” (1977) 26. National Academy of Sciences, “Carbon Dioxide and Climate” (1979) 27. National Academy of Sciences, “Changing Climate” (1983) 28. Environmental Protection Agency, Can We Delay a Greenhouse Warming? (1983) New York Times, “How to Live in a Greenhouse” (1983) 29. R. P. Turco, O. B. Toon, T. P. Ackerman, J. B. Pollack, and Carl Sagan, “Nuclear Winter” (1983) 30. Carl Sagan, “Nuclear War and Climatic Catastrophe” (1983) 31. S. Fred Singer (1985), “On a ‘Nuclear Winter’” (1983) 32. Starley L. Thompson and Stephen H. Schneider, “Nuclear Winter Reappraised” (1986) 33. James Hansen, Testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, June 23, 1988 Part Five | Climate Change Governance 34. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, First Assessment Report (1990) 35. World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (The Brundtland Report) (1987) 36. United Nations, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) 37. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1992) 38. C. Boyden Gray and David B. Rivkin Jr., “A ‘No Regrets’ Environmental Policy” (1991) 39. Al Gore and Mitch McConnell, Testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, September 18, 1992 40. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Second Assessment Report (1996) 41. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1997) 42. The Byrd-Hagel Resolution (1997) Part Six | The Past, the Present, and the Future 43. Bill McKibben, The End of Nature (1989) 44. Paul J. Crutzen and Eugene F. Stoermer, “The Anthropocene” (2000) 45. Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, “The Death of Environmentalism” (2004) 46. Nicholas Stern, “Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change” (2006) William D. Nordhaus, “A Review of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change” (2007) 47. Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency (2007) 48. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home (2016) Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword: Climate Change and the Uses of History / Paul S. Sutter Acknowledgments Introduction | Making Climate Change History Part One | The Scientific “Prehistory” of Global Warming 1. Joseph Fourier, “General Remarks on the Temperatures of the Globe and the Planetary Spaces” (1824) 2. John Tyndall, “The Bakerian Lecture: On the Absorption and Radiation of Heat by Gases and Vapours, and on the Physical Connexion of Radiation, Absorption, and Conduction” (1861) 3. Svante Arrhenius, “On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground” (1896) 4. G. S. Callendar, “The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and Its Influence on Temperature” (1938) Part Two | The Cold War Roots of Global Warming 5. Roger Revelle and Hans E. Suess, “Carbon Dioxide Exchange between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase of Atmospheric CO2 during the Past Decades” (1957) 6. Roger Revelle, Testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations, February 8, 1956 7. Roger Revelle, Testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations, May 1, 1957 8. Howard T. Orville, “The Impact of Weather Control on the Cold War” (1958) 9. National Science Foundation, Preliminary Plans for a National Center for Atmospheric Research (1959) Part Three | Making Global Warming Green 10. The Conservation Foundation, Implications of Rising Carbon Dioxide Content of the Atmosphere (1963) 11. President’s Science Advisory Committee, Restoring the Quality of Our Environment (1965) 12. Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III, The Limits to Growth (1972) 13. Study of Man’s Impact on Climate, Inadvertent Climate Modification (1971) 14. The Sierra Club, “International Committee Questionnaire—Five Year Plan” (1976) 15. Michael McCloskey, “Criteria for International Campaigns” (1982) 16. National Climate Program Act of 1978 17. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Advisory Group on Climate Meeting, May 26, 1978 18. David Slade, “Action Flow, U.S. Carbon Dioxide Research and Assessment Program” (1979) 19. David Slade, Letter to David Burns (1980) 20. Al Gore, Testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology, July 31, 1981 21. Rafe Pomerance, testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology, February 24, 1984 Part Four | Climate Change As Controversy 22. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, “A Study of Climatological Research as It Pertains to Intelligence Problems” (1974) 23. S. I. Rasool and S. H. Schneider, “Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Aerosols: Effects of Large Increases on Global Climate” (1971) 24. Reid Bryson, “A Perspective on Climate Change” (1974) 25. Stephen H. Schneider, The Genesis Strategy (1976) . Helmut E. Landsberg, “Review: The Genesis Strategy—Climate and Global Survival” (1976) Stephen H. Schneider and Helmut E. Landsberg, “Forum” (1977) 26. National Academy of Sciences, “Carbon Dioxide and Climate” (1979) 27. National Academy of Sciences, “Changing Climate” (1983) 28. Environmental Protection Agency, Can We Delay a Greenhouse Warming? (1983) New York Times, “How to Live in a Greenhouse” (1983) 29. R. P. Turco, O. B. Toon, T. P. Ackerman, J. B. Pollack, and Carl Sagan, “Nuclear Winter” (1983) 30. Carl Sagan, “Nuclear War and Climatic Catastrophe” (1983) 31. S. Fred Singer (1985), “On a ‘Nuclear Winter’” (1983) 32. Starley L. Thompson and Stephen H. Schneider, “Nuclear Winter Reappraised” (1986) 33. James Hansen, Testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, June 23, 1988 Part Five | Climate Change Governance 34. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, First Assessment Report (1990) 35. World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (The Brundtland Report) (1987) 36. United Nations, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) 37. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1992) 38. C. Boyden Gray and David B. Rivkin Jr., “A ‘No Regrets’ Environmental Policy” (1991) 39. Al Gore and Mitch McConnell, Testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, September 18, 1992 40. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Second Assessment Report (1996) 41. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1997) 42. The Byrd-Hagel Resolution (1997) Part Six | The Past, the Present, and the Future 43. Bill McKibben, The End of Nature (1989) 44. Paul J. Crutzen and Eugene F. Stoermer, “The Anthropocene” (2000) 45. Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, “The Death of Environmentalism” (2004) 46. Nicholas Stern, “Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change” (2006) William D. Nordhaus, “A Review of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change” (2007) 47. Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency (2007) 48. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home (2016) Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is a well-researched, richly detailed history of trout and trout fishing in the Mountain West that, as the author promises, 'overturns the biggest fish story ever told.'" -- John Gierach * Wall Street Journal *"Readable and thought-provoking. . . . The author does not sugarcoat the story of trout fishing in the West, and she deserves credit for being a voice for the native fish of all species that existed prior to human attempts to change nature’s plan and for documenting how the trout and angling opportunities we have in the Rocky Mountain West came to be." -- James Thull * Montana *"[A] remarkable book. Brown’s pithy, beautifully written prose conveys an important message: that anglers and managers need to stop imagining western lakes and rivers as wild places and start thinking about how the human history of Rocky Mountain trout has had a disastrous impact on ecologically significant native species that genteel recreationists too readily deemed ‘trash fish.’" -- Miles Powell * Western Historical Quarterly *"Trout Culture appealingly recounts the complex dance of environmental and social changes that led to the western icon. . . . A valuable, clear, and timely contribution. . . . Trout Culture is an excellent, engaging book that will appeal to scholars and general readers alike" -- Terence Young * Environmental History *"Engaging, perceptive, interpretive, meticulously researched and documented. . . . This careful delineation and assessment of the evolution of western trout culture will be valuable for those interested in the history of the American West as well as students of science and aquaculture." * Choice *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Headwaters 2. Trout Empire 3. Trout Culture 4. Trash Fish 5. Lunkers 6. Wild Trout Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Historian Edwin Martini has assembled a fine cast of scholars for examining the environmental impact and legacy of US military bases during the twentieth century. . . . The editor and his team are to be commended for highlighting the issues and furthering informed debate." -- Christopher M. Rein * Environmental History *"Proving Grounds is an excellent collection of essays examining various aspects of the U.S. military’s relationship to the environment." -- Sasha Davis * Journal of American History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Defending the Nation, Protecting the Land 2. Weather, Otters, and Bombs 3. Incident at Galisteo 4. “This Is Really Bad Stuff Buried Here” 5. The War on Plants 6. Addressing Environmental Risks and Mobilizing Democracy? 7. Reality Revealed 8. A Wildlife Insurgency 9. Restoration and Meaning on Former Military Lands in the United States Selected Bibliography Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Dyl’s analysis reveals the ways in which cultural, political, and economic pressures influence the nature of the built environment, even in the context of environmental hazards. . . . These narratives of survival and resistance complicate tidy Progressive-era stories of urban reform and revitalization, revealing heterogeneous experiences of disaster and remaking within the city. . . . Dyl’s work enlivens historical actors typically removed from narratives of this urban revitalization [and] asks provocative questions about how we retell narratives of past disasters, account for natural processes in our present lives, and plan for our futures in these sites." -- Shari Wilcox * Edge Effects *"Seismic City is a landmark in the relatively new field of disaster studies...It makes for a gripping read." * California History *"Seismic City offers an important contribution to the history of San Francisco by interweaving nature, human actions, and the built environment." * H-Environment *"The strength of Dyl’s work stems from her consideration of natural disasters as something very different from exceptional or singular occurrences." * Planning Perspectives *"environmental history delivers a unique portrait of the 1906 disaster." * Pacific Historical Review *"Seismic City is a superb environmental history of most well-known disasters of a popular western city." * New Mexico Historical Review *Table of ContentsForeword / Paul S. Sutter Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Making Land, Making a City 2. Catastrophe and Its Interpretations 3. Bread Lines and Earthquake Cottages 4. Rebuilding and the Politics of Place 5. Disaster Capitalism in the Streets 6. Plague, Rats, and Undesirable Nature 7. Symbolic Recovery and the Legacies of Disaster Conclusion Notes Manuscript Collections Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor most of the past century, Humbug Valley, a forest-hemmed meadow sacred to the Mountain Maidu tribe, was in the grip of a utility company. Washington's White Salmon River was saddled with a fish-obstructing, inefficient dam, and the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland was unacknowledged within the boundaries of Death Valley National Park. Until people decided to reclaim them.In Reclaimers, Ana Maria Spagna drives an aging Buick up and down the long strip of West Coast mountain rangesthe Panamints, the Sierras, the Cascadesand alongside rivers to meet the people, many of them wise women, who persevered for decades with little hope of success to make changes happen. In uncovering their heroic stories, Spagna seeks a way for herself, and for all of us, to take back and to make right in a time of unsettling ecological change.Trade Review"Spagna’s enthusiasm for their dedication and causes is irresistible. Such struggles are the real deal, after all, and what reader wouldn’t cheer on these tenacious underdogs trying to remedy past damage? We’re blessed with opportunities to make a difference, the writing shows…The lessons of her journeys, those readers can glean from these pages, are ‘Do what you can. Hope without hope. Expect the unexpected." -- Irene Wanner * Seattle Times *"The most influential book I’ve read recently. . . . It’s not a typical story of adventure, but I found it absolutely motivating to get out and learn about our wild places, cherish them, and listen to the stories of people who call them home. It also makes very clear that adventure is not just found high up on a rock face or in a deep snowy couloir – the world is full of places to take risks and dive deep into, to be curious and ambitious and wild and bold." -- Jenny Abegg * Outdoor Research Verticulture blog *Table of ContentsPrologue: The Low Ground Part One | A Red-Lettered Sign 1. Homeland 2. Willkommen 3. Revisit 4. Remediation 5. Talk Talk Part Two | Face-to-Face 6. The Red Fox and the Tule Elk 7. Tending 8. Without an Invite 9. The Circle of Life 10. What Now? Part Three | When the Walls Come Tumbling Down 11. Unequivocal 12. She Who Watches 13. Bypass 14. Restored . . . Salvaged 15. Hope without Hope 16. No Difference at All Coda: The High Ground Acknowledgments

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"This collection of essays provides an evocative look into the somewhat exclusive climbing world. Stevenson’s prose is lively, and his references to other prominent climbers and climber-authors may serve as a jumping-off point for further research in the field." -- Lucy Hereford * Pacific Northwest Quarterly (PNQ) *Table of ContentsIntroduction Warnings against Myself 1. Speaking in Code: Conversations and Reflections on Climbing, Language, and the Religion of the French 2. The Purposes of Ascent: Episodes and Conversations on Adventure, Climbing, and What It All Might Mean; An Account of Twenty Years in the West 3. Climber as Writer: From the Armchair to the Tetons Last Dance of the Wu Li Master: A Distanced Appreciation of Terrance “Mugs” Stump Virga 4. Untethered in Yosemite: A Report from Paradise in the Last Summer of the Millennium 5. Short Walks with McInerney: Three Classic Pilgrimages 6. Superstitious: Mont Blanc, French Alps 7. Struck: Longs Peak, Rocky Mountains 8. In the Bugs: In the Canadian Rockies 9. Axe of Contrition 10. Byron Glacier, June 24, 2009 11. Eros on the Heights 12. The Tower and the Riddle 13. Lives of the Volcano Poets 14. Here Comes Ol’ Flattop 15. A Short Cultural History of the Ice Axe in the Twentieth Century 16. Three Dreams of Mountains, Late Fall 2004 17. Whillans, Haston, and Me: A Distanced Appreciation with a Couple Trip Reports, Contextualized 18. In the Very Big Ice House: Travels on the Harding Icefield List of Illustrations Acknowledgments

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Case’s perceptive reading of the sources has produced a book that illuminates connections to many of the ideas, events, and concerns at the heart of postwar American environmentalism. . . . The Organic Profit should be on the shelf of anyone looking to understand the history, potential, and limitations of green consumerism." * Environmental History *"[M]ore than just a biography of Jerome and Robert, for it examines the history of the Rodale brand." * The Organic Grower *"Despite the growth of environmental history, first-rate studies of environmental capitalism remain relatively few. Andrew N. Case provides a significant addition to this literature... Case’s refusal to neither lionize nor demonize marketplace environmentalism is refreshing and provides a model for future scholars to emulate in exploring the complex intersections between environmentalism and capitalism." * Journal of American History *"...Case’s book is an exercise in wider social history. It analyses the way in which ‘marketplace environmentalism’ reflected changes in American cultural life and shopping habits." * Agricultural History Review *"The Organic Profit aptly shows the complexities and the historicity of such concepts as "organic," "natural lifestyles," and "marketplace environmentalism." It is a must-read for those who want a deeper understanding of the history and tensions underlying green consumerism." * H-Net Reviews *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Inform[s] readers on the deep history of the river and the impact it's had on all aspects of the region... The history of the Spokane River has broader implications for environmental awareness... [and] show[s] people how to take ownership of their local environment." -- Wilson Criscione * Inlander *"In this volume, Lindholdt gathers a diverse collection of people to speak about the Spokane River: scientists, artists, neighbors, activists, politicians, and historians, as well as several members of the Spokane Tribe of Indians... Recommended." * Choice *"The collection’s diverse viewpoints make it a valuable starting point for further research. As an introduction to the Spokane River and surrounding region, these essays let readers get their feet wet—and encourage them to wade in further." * Western Historical Quarterly *"People with interest in the Spokane River, or in humanriverine interactions anywhere, are fortunate to have this compendium, a rich, compelling, and humane exploration of the Spokane River’s long history of intertwinement with human communities." * H-Net *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Olympic National Park is a magical place—and this is its book." * Seattle City Living *"It’s no wonder this book has been so popular: McNulty is an excellent essayist and his subject is endlessly fascinating." * Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin *"Tim McNulty goes through Olympic National Park one ecosystem at a time, traveling from the mountains to the forests and on to the coast before turning his attention to the impact humans have had on the park's landscape. There's also a quick help section that tells you where to go to see wildflowers, old-growth forests, and wildlife. Too, he tosses in species checklists to help you keep track of what you've seen." -- Kurt Repanshek * National Parks Traveler *"A must-have for serious peninsula explorers." * Port Townsend Leader *"McNulty’s natural talents as a poet and essayist are put to good use in this all-in-one source. This book, ambitious in both scope and detail, remains the definitive book on the topic . . . ideal for travelers to the park itself as well as for students of history, lovers of nature." * HistoryLink *"One of the best ways to learn about Olympic National Park is to read Tim McNulty’s natural history guide. He creates a portrait of the park from coast to rain forest and snow-covered peaks in his usual graceful style, weaving stories of science and history and nature." * Everett Herald *"Pick any page . . . and start reading. Instead of stuffy prose and highly technical terms, you’ll find a warm, conversational tone. [This] book packs an encyclopedic range of information about Olympic National Park’s natural history." * Sequim Gazette *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"What is the real history of whaling in Japan? Is it first and foremost a story about the continuation of a centuries old cultural tradition? And how likely is it that the whaling Japan continues to do in the name of scientific research under IWC rules will validate a long-standing dedication to the sustainable use of whales for food? . . . Jakobina Arch . . . provide[s] for the first time convincing answers to these and other questions in Bringing Whales Ashore." -- Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith * Environment, Law, and History *"Bringing Whales Ashore is not only an important volume but also a provocative one. Jakobina Arch has produced (in her first book, no less) one of those rare and wonderful pieces of research that recasts the historical landscape (or, in this case, seascape) while stimulating debate and raising challenging new questions." * Monumenta Nipponica *"Arch’s fascinating study is more than an interdisciplinary maritime history. . . . Whales and whaling, here, wed the historical to the contemporary, enhancing knowledge of Japanese history while historizing contemporary controversies, including the invented tradition of Japanese as nature-loving people spiritually connected to their natural world." * Japan Studies Review *"Lucid, thoughtful, and thought provoking . . . a richly textured work that not only fills an important gap for scholars of Japanese history but also provides engaging material that should stimulate discussion—as well as debate—in the classroom." * Journal of Japanese Studies *"Rarely do books on the early modern period engage so directly with the present as does Bringing Whales Ashore. . . . As the Japanese pro-whaling lobby has constructed a certain narrative of the past to claim a right to whaling rooted in tradition and an ethos of sustainability, Arch provides a powerful counterweight with her in-depth investigation into all aspects of Japanese whaling history predating the rise of the modern factory ship in the twentieth century." * American Historical Review *"With Bringing Whales Ashore, Jakobina Arch almost singlehandedly places the emerging field regarding whales and whaling in Japanese history on solid ground." * Journal of Japanese Studies *"A superb book. . . . It represents the growing field of marine environmental history at its best." * Environmental History *"A breath-taking and emotional read... Jakobina Arch’s work challenges readers to travel from oceanscapes of cetacean migration, to visceral death on the coast, value extraction by dismemberment, and disintegration to places of hybrid-memory and lives long in the memory." * New Books Asia *"Jakobina K. Arch's Bringing Whales Ashore: Oceans and the Environment of Early Modern Japan is an important contribution to the rapidly expanding field of marine environmental history. Shedding the long-engrained terrestrial predisposition of history, Arch offers fresh understanding of the economic, cultural, and social links whaling forged between Japan and the Pacific Ocean in the premodern era." * H-Environment *"Bringing Whales Ashore is a breath-taking and emotional read for those concerned to fill in the watery, liminal spaces of environmental history in general or specifically of Japan." * New Books Asia *"[A] model of an interdisciplinary approach to environmental history...distill[s] complex histories into an eminently readable volume without compromising the scholarship therein." * H-Environment *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"In the Andrews Experimental Forest, ‘experimental’ is the domain of the scientist and writer alike. It is also the domain of the forest itself. . . . Forest Under Story seems keenly aware that the most important feature of language involves listening. When writers listen to the forest, when they press their ears against the bark of a hemlock or yew, the forest always speaks, however softly." -- Lawrence Lenhart * High Country News *"The publication of Forest Under Story represents a turning point in cross-disciplinary collaboration between scientists and writers. . . . Forest Under Story is very successful in its ability to inspire in the reader an ecological awareness of the temperate forests in Oregon and elsewhere." -- Erik F. Ringle * ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment *"Forest Under Story demonstrates that a holistic survey of any forest includes not just data, charts and EIS, but also stories and reflections from the human heart." * Cascadia Weekly (2016 Gift Guide for Greenies) *Table of ContentsMaps Charles Goodrich | Entries into the Forest Part One | Research and Revelation 1. The Long Haul / Robert Michael Pyle 2. The Web / Alison Hawthorne Deming 3. Scope: Ten Small Essays / John R. Campbell 4. Ground Work: Natural History of the Andrews Forest Landscape 5. Threads / Vicki Graham 6. Interview with a Watershed / Robin Wall Kimmerer 7. One-Day Field Count / Michael G. Smith 8. Specimens Collected at the Clear-Cut / Alison Hawthorne Deming 9. Forest Duff: A Poetic Sampling / Kristin Berger 10. Pacific Dogwood / Jerry Martien 11. Riparian / Sandra Alcosser 12. Ground Word: Old Growth 13. Each Step an Entry / Linda Hogan 14. Cosymbionts, The Art of Science & from Drainage Basin, Lookout Creek / Vicki Graham 15. Log Decomposition / Joan Maloof 16. Decomposition and Memory / Aaron M. Ellison 17. Ground Word: Decomposition 18. In the Experimental Forest, & Notes for a Prose Poem: Scientific Questions One Could Ask 19. Among the Douglas-Firs / Joseph Bruchac 20. From “Where the Forests Breath” / Brian Turner 21. From “Varieties of Attentiveness” / Freeman House 22. Poetry-Science Gratitude Duet / Alison Hawthorne Deming and Frederick J. Swanson Part Two | Change and Continuity 1. Genesis: Primeval Rivers and Forests / Pattiann Rogers 2. Forests and People: a meandering reflection on changing relationships between forests and human culture / Bill Yake 3. From “Out of Time” / Scott Slovic 4. “Ten-Foot Gnarly Stick” and “Pondering” / James Bertoli 5. In the Palace of Rot / Thomas Lowe Fleischner 6. Ground Work: Disturbance 7. New Channel / Jeff Fearnside 8. Slough, Decay, and the Odor of Soil / Bill Yake 9. From “The Mountain Lion” / Tim Fox 10. Ground Work: Northern Spotted Owl 11. The Other Side of the Clear-Cut / Laird Christensen 12. Clear-Cut / Joan Maloof 13. Ground Work: Forest Practices 14. Hope Tour: Three Stops / Lori Anderson Moseman 15. Purity and Change: Reflections in an Old-Growth Forest / John Elder Part Three | Borrowing Others’ Eyes 1. Wild Ginger / Jane Hirshfield 2. This Day, Tomorrow, and the Next / Pattiann Rogers 3. Portrait: Parsing My Wife as Lookout Creek / Andrew C. Gottlieb 4. On Assignment in the H.J. Andrews, the Poet Thinks of Her Ovaries / Maya Jewell Zeller 5. Piles of Pale Green / Joseph Bruchac 6. Design / Jerry Martien 7. Listening to Water / Robin Wall Kimmerer 8. Ground Work: Water 9. For the Lobaria, Usnea, Witch’s Hair, Map Lichen, Ground Lichen, Shield Lichen / Jane Hirshfield 10. The Owl, Spotted / Alison Hawthorne Deming 11. From “Field Notes” / Thomas Lowe Fleischner 12. Return of the dead log people / Jerry Martien 13. Denizens of Decay / Tom A. Titus 14. Ground Work: Soundscape 15. Mind in the Forest / Scott Russell Sanders 16. Coda / Vicki Graham 17. Afterword: Advice to a Future Reader / Kathleen Dean Moore For Further Reading About the Editors About the Contributors Acknowledgments

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs human activity and environmental change come to be increasingly recognized as intertwined phenomena on a rapidly urbanizing planet, the field of urban ecology has risen to offer useful ways of thinking about coupled human and natural systems.On the forefront of this discipline is Marina Alberti, whose innovative work offers a conceptual framework for uncovering fundamental laws that govern the complexity and resilience of cities, which she sees as key to understanding and responding to planetary change and the evolution of Earth. Bridging the fields of urban planning and ecology, Alberti describes a science of cities that work on a planetary scale and that links unpredictable dynamics to the potential for innovation. It is a science that considers interactions - at all scales - between people and built environments and between cities and their larger environments.Cities That Think like Planets advances strategies for planning a future that may look very

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[O]ne of those rare works that combines practical benefits with broad scholarly significance . . . outstanding. Its original arguments, and the diversity of peoples contained within its pages—Vietnamese, Cham, Chinese, French, French colonial, Japanese, American—ensure that the book will matter to historians of Vietnam, the United States, and the world." * Journal of World History *"Presents the history of this area as a form of stratigraphy, excavating layers of sedimented past where multiple military conflicts occurred. . . . A very welcome addition to the growing field of environmental history on Vietnam and on war and environment generally." * Environmental History *"A very welcome addition to the growing field of environmental history on Vietnam and on war and environment generally." * Environmental History *"[O[ffers readers an intriguing new perspective on the long history of military conflict and occupation in central Vietnam by integrating environmental perspectivves with more traditional military and political histories..an inspiring application of robust historical research to solving modern environmental problems caused by war." * LSE Review of Books *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"With its lovely photos, it’s a book that visitors would be delighted to find in any vacation rental house along the coast." * Bulletin of the Native Plant Society of Oregon *"[W]ith its lovely photos, it’s a book that visitors would be delighted to find in any vacation rental house along the coast." * Kalmiopsis *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Should be on the shelf of anyone looking to understand the history, potential, and limitations of green consumerism." * Environmental History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"In Living with Oil and Coal: Resource Politics and Militarization in Northeast India, anthropologist Dolly Kikon offers a rich account of life in the midst of a landscape defined by multiple overlapping extractive industries and plantation economies, and of the social relations through which a resource frontier comes into being." * New Books in Anthropology podcast *"This is a versatile book that would be accessible for undergraduate audiences, yet contains complexity that would be of great interest for graduate audiences and scholars as well." * Electronic Green Journal *"Kikon’s ethnography is rich, diverse, and makes an engaging read." * Contributions to Indian Sociology *"The strength of Kikon’s work is...in the creativity and skill of its synthesis of existing theoretical work, applied to a new context and matched with local knowledge." * Anthropologica *"[A] beautiful and gripping account of the intimate layers of life, vio-lence and sovereignty pattered throughout the militarised carbon landscape of the foothills of Assam and Nagaland in North East India." * Postcolonial Studies *"[E]vocatively captures the intricacies and intimacies of daily life on this militarized resource frontier, drawing from stories, oral histories, and local myths, in spaces ranging from coal mines to oil rigs, rice fields to weekly markets and military checkpoints. Throughout, the book remains focused on the fragile and contested intimacies forged through trade, labor sharing, and love affairs across boundaries that are at once social, political, and ecological." * PoLAR: Political & Legal Anthropology Review *"[A] fantastic read, a book that speaks to scholars as well as general public. Kikon combines grounded ethnography with theoretical elabortation, setting a new standard of excellence for the anthropology of the North East." * Economic and Political Weekly *"Kikon has crafted the book skilfully with her narrative writing style...This book is an essential reading for those who want to understand the complex state-society dynamics in Northeast India." * Cultural Geographies *"Dolly Kikon’s book, undoubtedly a fascinating work of ethnography, compels us to problematize seemingly unitary categories of hills and other land and waterscapes and also to think of the impact of extractive regimes not only on the environment but also on how environment then comes to exist for the human societies who experience them." * Seminar *"Interdisciplinary scholarship on the environment has much to gain from Kikon’s book... The power of Kikon’s ethnography lies in its subtle, and unromanticized, insistence onthe creativity and fortitude of those communities living amidst such extractive debris. Kikon’s careful mapping of friendships, enmities, grieving, laughing, dying, working, loving, healing, teaching, struggling, and building helps us to see all of the fragile things that hold life together, and what we will still have to tend to once the oil is gone." * H-Net *"[S]uperb...what is truly the exceptional strength of the book [is] a richly textured ethnography of how individuals and communities make their lives in the shadows of a region transformed by extraction." * H-Net *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2017 Virginia Marie Folkins Award, Association of King County Historical Organizations (AKCHO)Winner of the 2017 Hal K. Rothman Book Prize, Western History AssociationSeattle would not exist without animals. Animals have played a vital role in shaping the city from its founding amid existing indigenous towns in the mid-nineteenth century to the livestock-friendly town of the late nineteenth century to the pet-friendly, livestock-averse modern city. When newcomers first arrived in the 1850s, they hastened to assemble the familiar cohort of cattle, horses, pigs, chickens, and other animals that defined European agriculture. This, in turn, contributed to the dispossession of the Native residents of the area. However, just as various animals were used to create a Euro-American city, the elimination of these same animals from Seattle was key to the creation of the new middle-class neighborhoods of the twentieth century. As dogs and cats came to symbolize home and family, SeattTrade Review"For the Seattle history buff it’s a must read; for the urbanist it broadens the sense of what the city is, who it’s for, and how critters are partners in shaping urban life." -- Knute Berger * Crosscut *"Meticulous and thoughtful . . . Through impressive mining of primary sources, Frederick L. Brown weaves together urban history, environmental history, and geography through the forgotten stories of human-animal relations. . . . Teachers of environmental history should consider this titlefor undergraduate classrooms." * Environmental History *"Virtually any Northwest community would recognize itself in much of this book. . . . The City Is More Than Human is a tough but valuable read, challenging us to consider our actions and attitudes toward other species." -- Barbara Lloyd McMichael * Kitsap Sun *"Brown’s book is a welcome addition to the thriving study of animals in urban and American history." * Pacific Historical Review *Table of ContentsForeword | The Animal Turn in Urban History / Paul S. Sutter Introduction 1. Beavers, Cougars, and Cattle | Constructing the Town and the Wilderness 2. Cows | Closing the Grazing Commons 3. Horses | The Rise and Decline of Urban Equine Workers 4. Dogs and Cats | Loving Pets in Urban Homes 5. Cattle, Pigs, Chickens, and Salmon | Eating Animals on Urban Plates Conclusion Acknowledgments Appendix: Methodology List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Dyl’s analysis reveals the ways in which cultural, political, and economic pressures influence the nature of the built environment, even in the context of environmental hazards. . . . These narratives of survival and resistance complicate tidy Progressive-era stories of urban reform and revitalization, revealing heterogeneous experiences of disaster and remaking within the city. . . . Dyl’s work enlivens historical actors typically removed from narratives of this urban revitalization [and] asks provocative questions about how we retell narratives of past disasters, account for natural processes in our present lives, and plan for our futures in these sites." -- Shari Wilcox * Edge Effects *"Seismic City is a landmark in the relatively new field of disaster studies...It makes for a gripping read." * California History *"Seismic City offers an important contribution to the history of San Francisco by interweaving nature, human actions, and the built environment." * H-Environment *"The strength of Dyl’s work stems from her consideration of natural disasters as something very different from exceptional or singular occurrences." * Planning Perspectives *"environmental history delivers a unique portrait of the 1906 disaster." * Pacific Historical Review *"Seismic City is a superb environmental history of most well-known disasters of a popular western city." * New Mexico Historical Review *Table of ContentsForeword / Paul S. Sutter Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Making Land, Making a City 2. Catastrophe and Its Interpretations 3. Bread Lines and Earthquake Cottages 4. Rebuilding and the Politics of Place 5. Disaster Capitalism in the Streets 6. Plague, Rats, and Undesirable Nature 7. Symbolic Recovery and the Legacies of Disaster Conclusion Notes Manuscript Collections Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Williams’s lively mixture of hard science and piquant lore is sure to fire readers’ curiosity about the built environment around us." * Publishers Weekly *"Each line of inquiry coaxes out some expressive scientific, emotional or philosophical nugget from a piece of travertine, slate or, in one Pop Art extravaganza, a gas station made of petrified wood. Makes stone sing." * Kirkus Reviews *"Stories in Stone is chock full of fascinating geologic tidbits . . . [but] how the geology is intercalated with the architectural and engineering aspects of building stone is really what this book is about and why it is a good read." * WIRED *"Williams’ record of human dreams worked in stone is as richly textured and full of life's imprints as a fossil-rich piece of travertine." * Booklist *"From a kitschy gas station in Lamar, Colorado, contructed of petrified wood, to the working quarries where Michaelangelo cut slabs for David, Moses, and the Pieta, Williams is a knowledgable and enthusiastic guide. . . . Stories in Stone invites readers to ground their intuitive sense on the bedrock of geologic knowledge." * Natural History Magazine *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Hussain provides context on the animal (the snow leopard) and the area (mountainous Baltistan) in question by examining how both Islam and residual traces of Bon, the area’s now extinct pre-Islam religion, influence local attitudes. . . . Readers interested in animal conservation will find much to ponder in this thoughtful study." * Publishers Weekly *"[A] fascinating account of snow leopard con-servation in Baltistan... Shafqat’s dissection of conservation discourse exposes the inverse cor-relation between resource distribution and responsibilities in conservation." * Journal of Anthropological Research *"[A] breath of fresh air, suggesting room for optimism amidst the gloom of despairing writing on the snow leopard." * Conservation and Society *"The theoretically dense and historically rich chapters provide a nuanced understanding of how the life of the snow leopard is intertwined with the life of the goat and other livestock that are kept by the poor Balti herders in open corrals to meet their everyday nutritional needs... Shafqat Hussain’s careful analysis invites us to consider the agentivity of this elegant predator in harsh remote terrains, and by combining empirical evidence and scientific analyses, explains how domestic livestock continue to sustain the numbers of this vulnerable cat in the wild." * Pacific Affairs *"Carefully documenting the history of the snow leopard and its trade around the world, evaluating the science asso-ciated with snow leopard conservation and its uncertainties, and contextualizing it with rich ethnographic work, Hussain makes an important contribution to highlight the challenges and dynamics of operationalizing global conservation priorities at the local level." * Journal of Asian Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Hussain provides context on the animal (the snow leopard) and the area (mountainous Baltistan) in question by examining how both Islam and residual traces of Bon, the area’s now extinct pre-Islam religion, influence local attitudes. . . . Readers interested in animal conservation will find much to ponder in this thoughtful study." * Publishers Weekly *"[A] fascinating account of snow leopard con-servation in Baltistan... Shafqat’s dissection of conservation discourse exposes the inverse cor-relation between resource distribution and responsibilities in conservation." * Journal of Anthropological Research *"[A] breath of fresh air, suggesting room for optimism amidst the gloom of despairing writing on the snow leopard." * Conservation and Society *"The theoretically dense and historically rich chapters provide a nuanced understanding of how the life of the snow leopard is intertwined with the life of the goat and other livestock that are kept by the poor Balti herders in open corrals to meet their everyday nutritional needs... Shafqat Hussain’s careful analysis invites us to consider the agentivity of this elegant predator in harsh remote terrains, and by combining empirical evidence and scientific analyses, explains how domestic livestock continue to sustain the numbers of this vulnerable cat in the wild." * Pacific Affairs *"Carefully documenting the history of the snow leopard and its trade around the world, evaluating the science asso-ciated with snow leopard conservation and its uncertainties, and contextualizing it with rich ethnographic work, Hussain makes an important contribution to highlight the challenges and dynamics of operationalizing global conservation priorities at the local level." * Journal of Asian Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is a superb look at scientists and science at work." * Publishers Weekly *"The book is richly illustrated, supporting Wagner's evocative description of both the site and the procedures of the scientists he followed, a true window into the world of field science." * Choice *"Author Eric Wagner takes a lively, enthusiastic look at the post-eruption landscape." * The Oregonian *"Readers interested in the Pacific Northwest and historical ecology have much to glean from this carefully rendered portrait of an exceptional research community and iconic place." * Oregon Historical Quarterly *"It is a wonderful story that combines ecology, sociology, and anthropology to paint a picture of nature that can give us a feeling of hope." * In Defense of Plants *"Wagner has told an excellent story of nature in response to an extreme event and the resilience of ecosystems. There is a perfect blend of describing core ecological theories, the individuals conducting the research, and the passion many ecologists share for understanding natural systems. The book also has an inherent positivity, showing that life finds a way through the destruction of a volcanic eruption, that it makes for an enjoyable read beyond the ecological details." * Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America *"Like the seeds of lupine, Mount St. Helens is fortunate that such a writer landed on its soil, turning desolation into fertile ground." * Natural History Magazine *"Marvelous... Wagner's book highlights the amazing work done by a cast of characters who were among the first scientists to arrive at the blast site. More urgently, it chronicles nature's resiliency and the power of our ecosystems to restore and reinvent themselves." * Post Alley *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"The writing is straightforward, making the book appropriate for all readers interested in restoration ecology, the impacts of culture on science, and ecological research in general." * Choice *"It reaches diverse audiences with its readability, careful and consistent statements and reminders of problem and intent, lack of jargon, and provides an essential awareness while presenting a widely applicable solution. What at first seem very basic concepts are applied and combined here brilliantly to form a powerful conceptual argument for thinking differently about ecological restoration in a changing climate." * Bulletin of the Pacific Circle *"[A]n engaging and informative investigation into the changing nature of environmental restoration under conditions of complexity and uncertainty." * Conservation and Society *"Accessibly written...Anticipating Future Environments offers readers a helpful theoretical and practical look at salmon restoration on the Columbia in light of climate change." * H-Net *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Hough presents a well-researched narrative...Interesting read, tracing the history of this seismic and scientific debate." * Choice *"Seismologist Susan Hough's account offers a revealing glimpse of the personalities and issues within America's geologic community in the early twentieth century. But it also can be read as a cautionary tale about science and society." * Natural History Magazine *"Hough's book...touches the history of a subfield of earth science that has been only rarely studied before: seismology." * H-Net *"This book is historical and biographical writing at its very best." * Environment and History *"The Great Quake Debate gives all readers—historians, scientists, and interested non-experts—excellent insights into the unfolding of scientific community and scientific investigations of earthquakes in the United States, a topic crucial to public and private life then, and still." * Pacific Historical Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] welcome contribution to the literature on Japanese colonialism and “green imperialism.” Seeds of Control is a lively and timely work. Non-specialist readers will find it approachable and informative. Specialists in Japanese and Korean history will find Seeds of Control useful to think and teach with. It is an excellent example of what environmental history can bring to the study of nation and empire in East Asia." * Agricultural History *"Seeds of Control is a must-read text for anyone interested in the complexity and interplay of colonial and environmental history." * Environmental History *"David Fedman presents the first environmental history monograph in English detailing Japanese colonial forestry policies and practices in Korea. The book is deeply and widely researched—incorporating archival, published, and scholarly sources in Korean, Japanese, and English—and is engagingly written." * European Journal of Korean Studies *"Through its comprehensive evaluation of the successes and failures of Japan’s environmental governance, Seeds of Control speaks to the current situation in an innovative and persuasive manner, for it reveals a new horizon or internal limit for the exercise of power." * Journal of Asian Studies *"[E]xcellent, detailed, and carefully composed research." * Seoul Journal of Korea Studies *"Seeds of Control is a thought-provoking, well-written study, thoroughly grounded in both Japanese and Korean sources. It is a pleasure to read." * Journal of Japanese Studies *"[A] remarkable work that will surely appeal to an academic audience." * The Middle Ground Journal *"Seeds of Control is a vital book for scholars interested in the environmental history of colonial Korea, the general history of Korea, and the connected histories of wider East Asia. It is particularly vital due to its approach to vectors for imperialism or colonization, which have not been widely considered previously. Fedman's approach is rooted in a detailed examination of primary source materials, particularly those produced in Keijō by the government-general at the time, in both Japanese and English, as well as other primary material published elsewhere in the Japanese empire." * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"The writing is straightforward, making the book appropriate for all readers interested in restoration ecology, the impacts of culture on science, and ecological research in general." * Choice *"It reaches diverse audiences with its readability, careful and consistent statements and reminders of problem and intent, lack of jargon, and provides an essential awareness while presenting a widely applicable solution. What at first seem very basic concepts are applied and combined here brilliantly to form a powerful conceptual argument for thinking differently about ecological restoration in a changing climate." * Bulletin of the Pacific Circle *"[A]n engaging and informative investigation into the changing nature of environmental restoration under conditions of complexity and uncertainty." * Conservation and Society *"Accessibly written...Anticipating Future Environments offers readers a helpful theoretical and practical look at salmon restoration on the Columbia in light of climate change." * H-Net *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[O]ffers an engaging, complex account focused on issues concerning the production, accumulation, and transformation of value." * Choice *"Tubb astutely examines the economics of artisal mining in the Choco area, adeptly shifting from the macro to the micro, the global to the local, whilst telling a captivating and compelling story." * Nokoko *"[A] rich and detailed ethnography." * American Anthropologist *"This is an exciting time for the anthropological study of mining, and Shifting Livelihoods makes a welcome contribution to the scholarship that is emerging." * Exertions *"This ethnography is an eloquently written and concise read for multiple audiences interested in discussions about economic anthropology and the anthropology of mining... Shifting Livelihoods is a respectful walk alongside miners in Colombia’s Chocó region that manages to capture their humanity and dignity – something that journalists and politicians have failed heretofore to do." * Anthropologica *"The book’s proposition of shifting livelihood strategies is especially convincing due to its writing style of ethnographic storytelling...The miners and their rainforest come to life in the book, one muddy page after another." * Bulletin of Latin American Research *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[O]ffers an engaging, complex account focused on issues concerning the production, accumulation, and transformation of value." * Choice *"Tubb astutely examines the economics of artisal mining in the Choco area, adeptly shifting from the macro to the micro, the global to the local, whilst telling a captivating and compelling story." * Nokoko *"[A] rich and detailed ethnography." * American Anthropologist *"This is an exciting time for the anthropological study of mining, and Shifting Livelihoods makes a welcome contribution to the scholarship that is emerging." * Exertions *"This ethnography is an eloquently written and concise read for multiple audiences interested in discussions about economic anthropology and the anthropology of mining... Shifting Livelihoods is a respectful walk alongside miners in Colombia’s Chocó region that manages to capture their humanity and dignity – something that journalists and politicians have failed heretofore to do." * Anthropologica *"The book’s proposition of shifting livelihood strategies is especially convincing due to its writing style of ethnographic storytelling...The miners and their rainforest come to life in the book, one muddy page after another." * Bulletin of Latin American Research *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"This excellent book joins a raft of ethnographic publications from the cohort of contemporaries who all did their first fieldwork from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s in the mining areas of Papua New Guinea, returning frequently up to the present. Perhaps not since the 1960s has there been such a surge of reflection, from different angles, on connected topics in Papua New Guinea." * Pacific Affairs *"[A] truly modern, and highly participatory, ethnography." * Pacific Affairs *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"This excellent book joins a raft of ethnographic publications from the cohort of contemporaries who all did their first fieldwork from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s in the mining areas of Papua New Guinea, returning frequently up to the present. Perhaps not since the 1960s has there been such a surge of reflection, from different angles, on connected topics in Papua New Guinea." * Pacific Affairs *"[A] truly modern, and highly participatory, ethnography." * Pacific Affairs *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA timely collection examining a diverse region's environmental shiftsEast Asia hosts a fifth of the world's population and consumes over half the world's coal, a quarter of its petroleum products, and a tenth of its natural gas. It also produces a third of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, making it a major contributor to climate change. The regionwhose countries share ecological, sociocultural, and political characteristics while varying in size, resource wealth, history, and political systemsoffers excellent insights into the complex dynamics influencing environmental politics, advocacy, and policy. With essays addressing Japan after Fukushima, coal plants and wind turbines in China, environmental activism in Taiwan, and sustainable rural development in South Korea, Greening East Asia explores a region's shift from development to eco-development in acknowledgment that environmental sustainability is a critical component of economic growth.Trade Review"[W]ill be of interest to scholars and policy makers of East Asia who are interested in theoretical frameworks to explicate the transitions in this part of the world." * Journal of Chinese Political Science *"[A] timely effort to integrate our understanding of environmental action in four major countries of East Asia. This book steps beyond the democracy/autocracy binary to point out the many ways that they have followed a similar development pathway, just at different times. This volume offers three commonalities" * China Quarterly *"[A] truly interdisciplinary endeavour that contributes to environmental and Asian studies. Given the relative paucity of edited materials that explicitly apply a comparative lens to East Asia’s environment, this is a much-welcomed scholarly intervention. Besides the impressive breadth of topics, this brilliantly edited collection ensures that the chapters are not only in conversation with each other, but also consistently engaged with the eco-developmentalism concept. Such strong cohesion enhances a reader’s sense of being able to piece together a fascinating yet complex picture of environmental governance and advocacy in East Asia." * Pacific Affairs *"[A] highly readable volume…Given its relevance to the ongoing climate emergency, this book should interest scholars, activists, and policy makers of the region and beyond." * Pacific Affairs *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[W]ill be of interest to scholars and policy makers of East Asia who are interested in theoretical frameworks to explicate the transitions in this part of the world." * Journal of Chinese Political Science *"[A] timely effort to integrate our understanding of environmental action in four major countries of East Asia. This book steps beyond the democracy/autocracy binary to point out the many ways that they have followed a similar development pathway, just at different times. This volume offers three commonalities" * China Quarterly *"[A] truly interdisciplinary endeavour that contributes to environmental and Asian studies. Given the relative paucity of edited materials that explicitly apply a comparative lens to East Asia’s environment, this is a much-welcomed scholarly intervention. Besides the impressive breadth of topics, this brilliantly edited collection ensures that the chapters are not only in conversation with each other, but also consistently engaged with the eco-developmentalism concept. Such strong cohesion enhances a reader’s sense of being able to piece together a fascinating yet complex picture of environmental governance and advocacy in East Asia." * Pacific Affairs *"[A] highly readable volume…Given its relevance to the ongoing climate emergency, this book should interest scholars, activists, and policy makers of the region and beyond." * Pacific Affairs *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"What is the real history of whaling in Japan? Is it first and foremost a story about the continuation of a centuries old cultural tradition? And how likely is it that the whaling Japan continues to do in the name of scientific research under IWC rules will validate a long-standing dedication to the sustainable use of whales for food? . . . Jakobina Arch . . . provide[s] for the first time convincing answers to these and other questions in Bringing Whales Ashore." -- Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith * Environment, Law, and History *"Bringing Whales Ashore is not only an important volume but also a provocative one. Jakobina Arch has produced (in her first book, no less) one of those rare and wonderful pieces of research that recasts the historical landscape (or, in this case, seascape) while stimulating debate and raising challenging new questions." * Monumenta Nipponica *"Arch’s fascinating study is more than an interdisciplinary maritime history. . . . Whales and whaling, here, wed the historical to the contemporary, enhancing knowledge of Japanese history while historizing contemporary controversies, including the invented tradition of Japanese as nature-loving people spiritually connected to their natural world." * Japan Studies Review *"Lucid, thoughtful, and thought provoking . . . a richly textured work that not only fills an important gap for scholars of Japanese history but also provides engaging material that should stimulate discussion—as well as debate—in the classroom." * Journal of Japanese Studies *"Rarely do books on the early modern period engage so directly with the present as does Bringing Whales Ashore. . . . As the Japanese pro-whaling lobby has constructed a certain narrative of the past to claim a right to whaling rooted in tradition and an ethos of sustainability, Arch provides a powerful counterweight with her in-depth investigation into all aspects of Japanese whaling history predating the rise of the modern factory ship in the twentieth century." * American Historical Review *"With Bringing Whales Ashore, Jakobina Arch almost singlehandedly places the emerging field regarding whales and whaling in Japanese history on solid ground." * Journal of Japanese Studies *"A superb book. . . . It represents the growing field of marine environmental history at its best." * Environmental History *"A breath-taking and emotional read... Jakobina Arch’s work challenges readers to travel from oceanscapes of cetacean migration, to visceral death on the coast, value extraction by dismemberment, and disintegration to places of hybrid-memory and lives long in the memory." * New Books Asia *"Jakobina K. Arch's Bringing Whales Ashore: Oceans and the Environment of Early Modern Japan is an important contribution to the rapidly expanding field of marine environmental history. Shedding the long-engrained terrestrial predisposition of history, Arch offers fresh understanding of the economic, cultural, and social links whaling forged between Japan and the Pacific Ocean in the premodern era." * H-Environment *"Bringing Whales Ashore is a breath-taking and emotional read for those concerned to fill in the watery, liminal spaces of environmental history in general or specifically of Japan." * New Books Asia *"[A] model of an interdisciplinary approach to environmental history...distill[s] complex histories into an eminently readable volume without compromising the scholarship therein." * H-Environment *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A]n important study that contributes to the recentring of climate-change narratives, from those of international policymakers, post-colonial states and lowland populations to those of upland groups most vulnerable to human-induced climate change that is not of their own making." * South East Asia Research *"Clearly and sensitively thought-out exposition. The book should be recognized as a rare work of oral history and ethnography that throws down a legitimate challenge to listen to the struggling folk who live in and with “mountains of blame."" * Pacific Affairs *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A]n important study that contributes to the recentring of climate-change narratives, from those of international policymakers, post-colonial states and lowland populations to those of upland groups most vulnerable to human-induced climate change that is not of their own making." * South East Asia Research *"Clearly and sensitively thought-out exposition. The book should be recognized as a rare work of oral history and ethnography that throws down a legitimate challenge to listen to the struggling folk who live in and with “mountains of blame."" * Pacific Affairs *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn intimate biography of place and an urgent call to conservationNot far from Seattle skyscrapers live 150-year-old clams, more than 250 species of fish, and underwater kelp forests as complex as any terrestrial ecosystem. For millennia, vibrant Coast Salish communities have lived beside these waters dense with nutrient-rich foods, with cultures intertwined through exchanges across the waterways. Transformed by settlement and resource extraction, Puget Sound and its future health now depend on a better understanding of the region's ecological complexities. Focusing on the area south of Port Townsend and between the Cascade and Olympic mountains, Williams uncovers human and natural histories in, on, and around the Sound. In conversations with archaeologists, biologists, and tribal authorities, Williams traces how generations of humans have interacted with such species as geoducks, salmon, orcas, rockfish, and herring. He sheds light on how warfare shaped development and how people havTrade Review"Homewaters is a sweeping exploration of how a place shapes lives. It begins with glaciers and volcanoes carving up Puget Sound, and examines early Native communities’ relationships with their environment, colonial exploitation of natural resources and efforts to better understand how keystone and emblematic species like salmon, orca, rockfish, herring, kelp and more are enduring the conditions of the Sound today." * Crosscut *"[A] highly readable and enjoyable account that connects seemingly disparate threads and weaves together a complex mix of science and humanities that’s greater than the sum of its parts – much like Puget Sound history itself." * MyNorthwest *"Opens readers’ eyes to the complexity of life in the Sound and the complexity of human history on and beside it." * Post Alley *"[A] fascinating exploration of how a place shapes the lives of the people and cultures that live along its shore from earliest times to the present day... Wonderful history and excellent read." * The Confluence *"David Williams has produced another engaging book covering the Pacific Northwest and how its past has shaped its present... Homewaters is an inspiring book, and we need more like it." * H-Net *"[A] captivating book about Puget Sound... David Williams has a clear, friendly style of writing, making the book an easy read for people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. He weaves together the history, geography, hydrology, ecology and anthropology of this unique waterbody, telling its story from ancient times to the present in a very personal and reflective way." * Western Historical Quarterly *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA small town weighs the economic compromises of growth in the Rocky Mountain WestWhat happens to rural communities when their traditional economic base collapses? When new money comes in, who gets left behind? Pushed Out offers a rich portrait of Dover, Idaho, whose transformation from thriving timber mill town to economically depressed small town to trendy second-home location over the past four decades embodies the story and challenges of many other rural communities. Sociologist Ryanne Pilgeram explores the structural forces driving rural gentrification and examines how social and environmental inequality are written onto these landscapes. Based on in-depth interviews and archival data, she grounds this highly readable ethnography in a long view of the region that takes account of geological history, settler colonialism, and histories of power and exploitation within capitalism. Pilgeram's analysis reveals the processes and mechanisms that make such communities vulnerable to gentrTrade Review"The book...combines narrative storytelling, historical research and sociological theory to paint a complete and compelling picture." * Sandpoint Reader *"In clean and engaging prose, Pilgeram describes the heartache of a disenfranchised population, while also delivering a tough scholarly analysis." * Bookmonger *"Through extensive interviews and archival work, this sociological study draws on the descriptive power of ethnographic writing to trace the path of rural development in an engaging and accessible book." * Choice *"[I]t speaks to urgent changes in the contemporary West...the book's closing reminder that we can imagine, and enact, different futures is a hopeful and necessary one." * Western American Literature *"Pilgeram’s work constitutes an excellent intervention into the problems associated with rural gentrification." * Contemporary Sociology *"Pilgeram's book is a thoroughly engaging, well researched, and important exploration of a type of gentrification often ignored and misunderstood in the broader social discussion of displacement." * Growth and Change *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"The book...combines narrative storytelling, historical research and sociological theory to paint a complete and compelling picture." * Sandpoint Reader *"In clean and engaging prose, Pilgeram describes the heartache of a disenfranchised population, while also delivering a tough scholarly analysis." * Bookmonger *"Through extensive interviews and archival work, this sociological study draws on the descriptive power of ethnographic writing to trace the path of rural development in an engaging and accessible book." * Choice *"[I]t speaks to urgent changes in the contemporary West...the book's closing reminder that we can imagine, and enact, different futures is a hopeful and necessary one." * Western American Literature *"Pilgeram’s work constitutes an excellent intervention into the problems associated with rural gentrification." * Contemporary Sociology *"Pilgeram's book is a thoroughly engaging, well researched, and important exploration of a type of gentrification often ignored and misunderstood in the broader social discussion of displacement." * Growth and Change *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[O]ne of the most interesting books for understanding the Chinese system of timber trade during the Qing era. Zhang's book can be useful to us today because we are living in a time of deforestation of the Amazon, climate change, and problems with the actual economic system. The explanation provided by Zhang might be part of the solution for shaping humanity's common future." * H-Net *"Zhang's work is superlative... [T]his remarkable book belongs on the shelves and syllabi of any scholar interested in the economical and environmental history of early modern China." * Journal of Asian Studies *"For the reader unfamiliar with the details of imperial Chinese political economy, this is a work that is attentive to what you need to know. For the specialist it is skilled in logical weaving together of the impact of a complex set of institutions and practices. This should encourage wide readerhip among comparative historians as well as China scholars." * Journal of Chinese History *"This carefully constructed study makes a major contribution to Chinese economic and environmental history and to world-historical discourses on resource management, early modern commercialization, and sustainable development." * New Books Network *"At a time when the market has been seen as a main culprit for resource degeneration, Zhang’s study offers an important opportunity for us to reconsider the market–resource relationship. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese history, economic and environmental history, Chinese geography, resource management, sustainable forestry, market–environment relationships, and related topics." * China Review International *"Advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars of early capitalism, regional political economy, historical resource economics, and the convergence of ecology and economics (a new Oikonomics?) will gain much from a careful, critical, and comparative reading of this remarkable and challenging book." * Environmental History *"Offering vivid insights into labourers, who played a crucial role in different stages of timber production, such as cutting, processing, and transportation, Zhang’s book fills a gap in current knowledge about the history of forest labourers." * International Review of Social History *"[An] original and fascinating new perspective on forest history in China…Scholars and students of global and East Asian environmental, forest, and economic history will find [this] new and insightful analysis very useful." * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *"An impressive and careful study of a subject unexplored in English. [Meng Zhang's] insights into the role of market forces in environmental management make a vital contribution to the field of environmental history." * American Historical Review *

Read more less