Product Description
Over the last few decades, various international and cross-cultural partnerships have been established, often with impressive speed, to facilitate the protection of natural resources and the environment. However, many problems exist within these partnerships: international declarations and conventions are not binding in the same ways as national laws; the motivations behind the involvement of a country or culture are not always easy to identify and are often understood differently in different places; environmental obligations are often interpreted and implemented differently in different places; and, common aims are often not mutual at all. These difficulties surrounding the establishment and implementation of workable international and cross-cultural environmental policies form the basis of this book. ... Read more

Product Description
In clear and compelling prose, Judith Shapiro relates the great, untold story of the devastating impact of Chinese politics on China's environment during the Mao years. Maoist China provides an example of extreme human interference in the natural world in an era in which human relationships were also unusually distorted.Under Mao, the traditional Chinese ideal of "harmony between heaven and humans" was abrogated in favor of Mao's insistence that "Man Must Conquer Nature." Mao and the Chinese Communist Party's "war" to bend the physical world to human will often had disastrous consequences both for human beings and the natural environment. Mao's War Against Nature argues that the abuse of people and the abuse of nature are often linked. Shapiro's account, told in part through the voices of average Chinese citizens and officials who lived through and participated in some of the destructive campaigns, is both eye-opening and heartbreaking.Judith Shapiro teaches environmental politics at American University in Washington, DC. She is co-author, with Liang Heng, of several well known books on China, including Son of the Revolution (Random House, 1984) and After the Nightmare (Knopf, 1986). She was one of the first Americans to work in China after the normalization of U.S.-China relations in 1979.Amazon.com Review
Historians have well chronicled Mao Zedong's crimes against the people of China over his four decades of rule, but his crimes against the Chineseland have been less studied. Judith Shapiro, a historian at AmericanUniversity, tells that dark story with admirable thoroughness.

A central tenet of Maoist ideology was the rejection of both ancientChinese tradition and modern Western science, both of which offered anample store of evidence to suggest that rivers flow best when unimpeded,that biological diversity is a good and necessary thing. Instead, MaoZedong insisted, the laws of historical materialism mandated thateverything in creation be put into the service of the revolution: Forestshad to be felled to make steel for China's industrial development,mountains had to be leveled to make room for agricultural fields, rivershad to be reversed in their courses to provide power and irrigation.Marshaling the people of China in campaigns to clear land and destroygrain-hungry birds, among other things, Mao remade the landscape in just afew years, ordering imperial-scale projects such as the Three Gorges Dam.His policies led to disaster, to deforestation, air and water pollution,and ultimately famine--but some of those policies are still in force.

Shapiro observes that Mao Zedong cannot be held entirely accountable forthe destruction of China's land, water, and air; he had, after all, manywilling deputies. Still, the political repression he put in place maderesistance almost impossible--and even today, Shapiro writes in herimpressive study of Mao's war on the environment, his actions have proveddifficult to undo. "Until China confronts its uneasy Maoist legacy," the authorconcludes, "it may struggle fruitlessly to achieve a sustainable relationship with the natural world." --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Modernity gone mad
"Mao's war against nature" is a book about environmental destruction and other man-made disasters in China during the rule of Mao Zedong. The book deals with four specific events during the Maoist period: the Anti-Rightist campaign, the Great Leap Forward, the Third Front and the campaign to learn from Dazhai.

The Anti-Rightist campaign silenced scientists and intellectuals who tried to warn the Communist authorities about the impending population explosion and the dangers of the Sanmenxia Dam. During the Great Leap Forward, Mao's artificial attempt to catch up with Britain and the United States in terms of steel production, led to large-scale deforestation and a famine killing about 30 million people. The campaign to learn from Dazhai was an attempt to increase grain production by terracing mountains and turn wetlands into farmlands. It, too, was a spectacular failure. The military preparations during the Third Front did lead to some successes in industrializing previously barren areas, but they also displaced millions of "educated youth" and caused the usual large scale deforestation, destruction of lakes, etc.

Sometimes, the expectations were almost comically silly, as when the Maoists claimed that more seeds on the same field would lead to an increased harvest, when in reality the seeds simply competed against each other, leading (at best) to the same harvest. Or when party commissars instructed the peasants to dug deeper into the fields, hoping that this would enable the extra seeds to sprout. Actually, it just destroyed the soil. During the campaign to learn from Dazhai, insane attempts to make grain grow on almost barren hills seem to have been the rule rather than the exception.

The propaganda was equally silly. During the Great Leap Forward, claims reached the fantastic. The genetic manipulation of ordinary peasants, sometimes children, were said to have made roosters bear chicks. Pear trees yielded apples, pigs were bred with cows, and crossing cotton and tomato plants were said to have created red cotton! Unsurprisingly, the propaganda was later exposed. Thus, the "self sufficient" village of Dazhai, which supposedly managed to raise its agricultural output without outside support, was actually heavily assisted by funds and manpower from the People's Liberation Army.

What caused this insane orgy in environmental destruction? Mao's "socialist utopianism", to use the author's expression, was the prime culprit. Maoism was characterized by a strong voluntarism. Mao believed that one could transform both human nature and material conditions by unleashing mass mobilizations. He seems to have interpreted this quite literally, as if the laws of nature could somehow be nullified by sheer will power and force. However, Judith Shapiro is sufficiently prescient to point out that environmental destruction was a feature of pre-Communist China as well, and likewise with post-Mao China, where market forces rather than political mobilizations are the main culprits.

The author also points out that all of modern civilization is based on destruction of nature, so in that sense Mao's China was simply one extreme example of a global process. Mao, after all, wanted to modernize and industrialize China, somehow assuming that this could be done in a relatively short time by sheer exertion. The relatively swift industrialization of the Soviet Union may have loomed large in Mao's mind. When China became internationally isolated, Mao feared an attack from both the United States and the USSR, which (to his mind) made a speedy creation of a military-industrial complex necessary. Another factor is the usual Marxist emphasis on the need for socialism to expand the productive forces even beyond those of capitalism.

But at bottom, there really wasn't anything special about Mao's war against nature. It's just another form of "modernity" gone mad.

Mao's War Against Nature
Book was much appreciated. Useful for a specific research project; well written but could have had more detail, which would be difficult given the enormity of the subject. Appears to be the only reference on this issue. Would recommend it to anyone interested in one of the more insidious sides of Mao's campaigns.

The death of an ethos
Even the most casual look at Chinese panoramic art over the centuries reveals an emphasis on nature.Every scene is embedded in nature, whether it be white-capped mountains, forests of tall trees, bubbling rivers that criss cross green plains, etc...Whether it is scenes of chinese royalty parading through villages, or chinese philosophers reclining in the countryside, the coexistence of man in nature is a central theme in Chinese history, art, and culture.Then came the 2oth century and the Communist Revolution in the 1940s.With Mao came a new modus operandi between man and nature, one that threw out balance and replaced it with one of exploitation.It is this exploitation that is the focus of this book.

The book was written by an American who has lived and studied in China for decades.The author has apparantly interviewed hundreds, if not thousands of Chinese citizens with bittersweet memories since the 1950s.These memories portray a society built from the top down, that is out of touch with its own geography and natural environment.The chapters of the book chronologically explore various episodes of Communist China's exploitation of the environment.Each one focuses on several individuals who tried to stop a specific government policy, but who were repressed and rebuffed.These policies include building of certain dams, cutting down of forests, and a policy of encouraging large families in the 1950s that presaged China's overpopulation in the latter half of the 20th century.Each time, Mao and his successors in the Communist Party encouraged policies inspired by nationalism and economic growth, but ignored common sense.Many of these policies were also driven by fear of the USSR and US.

The author writes the book in quite an objective tone, allowing her interviewee's comments to drive the book's opinion.The textual level is easy to understand, and appropriate reading for any college student.The book also comes with several dozen photographs taken of life in Communist China during Mao's time.The list of references is also quite impressive.All in all, this is a great book about China's modern history.

Descriptive, But Analysis Found Wanting
In terms of the historiography of China's environmental policies during the Mao era this book is certainly an important work.Shapiro does a great job of laying out the general trends of the policies concerning the environment during the Mao years, and this general framework is nicely complemented by anecdotal evidence.The thesis of this work is that governments and policies that victimize people also tend to victimize the environment.That thesis is convincingly supported by Shapiro as the book documents how environmental destruction was particularly pronounced during the political reform movements that have become so notorious (the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, etc.).

Unfortunately, this otherwise superb book has a major flaw for which I feel compelled to dock one star in my rating.Shapiro's final analysis concerning the changes needed in the future is simply weak.Throughout the book Shapiro criticized ideologies/philosophies that considered nature as something to be conquered.She also touches on how those ideologies/philosophies are often related to the modern world view of progress and materialism.I think she is absolutely correct in this part of her diagnosis.

Oddly, when it comes to her prescription Shapiro suggests what is essentially more of the same.She, of course, wouldn't see it that way, but she fails to refute the modern world view of progress and materialism.The answer, according to Shapiro, isn't a break from the ideology of progress but rather a progress that is tempered by the implementation of new technology and a sense of "humility".Well, humility would certainly help, but even a humility that at the end of the day still is primarily interested in material progress will end in the same types of environmental abuses that Shapiro is so sincerely concerned with.

The problem that Shapiro misses is that the modern world view is one which in which societies are driven by the notion that history is (or at least can) progress toward some sort form of utopian reality.In the case of China the utopian reality is socialism/communism, but I would argue the nonconservative vision of capitalism's role in enriching the world is basically of the same essence.The point here is that this view of history and reality is especially pronounced in modernity.The predominant world view before modern times in Western Civilization, for example, was the Augustinian world view that considered this world as simply "growing old" and "passing away".According to this view, the world has no directional history; eschatological fulfillment is only found in transcendent history (aka, salvation by God).For more on this, see Eric Voegelin, Modernity Without Restraint: The Political Religions, The New Science of Politics, and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism (Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Volume 5).

In any case, this was a valuable read that should be seriously considered as an addition to any modern Chinese history course, especially those with a focus on Maoist policies.Shapiro is a good writer and her anecdotes are very interesting.Her thesis is solid and well supported, though I think her final analysis could have been stronger.Four stars for a solid book.

Worth Every Penny
As a foreigner living in China, I found Shapiro's book extremely helpful in understanding the culture of one-fifth of the world's population.Shapiro did an excellent job of choosing several major examples of Mao's destructive impact on the country of China and her people.
One is unable to help but to be enthralled in her book.She is thorough in her treatment of the examples she chose and is able to record the information in an easy-to-read manner.
I recommend this book to anyone who is at all interested in history, even if one is just a beginner.Your eyes will be opened to realize how destructive an individual can be when their one major concern is their own pride. ... Read more

Product Description
Interpretations of wild nature and wilderness are particularly diverse in the American mind, given our history, our collective economic success, and our diverse social and cultural mix. Although the meanings we attribute to nature reflect our different views of the role humans should play in the natural world, there remains a divide between how we embrace protected landscapes and how we consider natural landscapes, or nature itself. Thomas Vale explores this phenomenon in The American Wilderness: Reflections on Nature Protection in the United States. In his examination of protected landscapes at all scales, from the wooded corners of a city park and the local reserve of wetland, to the vast wilderness of the Everglades and Okeefenokee, to Central Park and Yosemite, Vale argues that nature protection is an act of place-creation, an act that necessarily links humans to nature and depends on a diverse array of human interactions.

rare combination of celebration and criticism, Vale's argument is twofold: landscapes of protected nature in the United States represent a legitimate natural resource, and contrary to expressions in some recent literature, such landscapes bond people to nature. Providing extensive historical and modern data about the national park, national wilderness, and national wildlife refuge systems, Vale argues for the validity of landscape protection and the benefits of achieving both strict preserves and mixed-commodity places in a democratic society. His goal is to unite the often disparate threads of nature protection into a fabric that will enhance an appreciation for the extent and richness of nature protection sentiment and action in the United States. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters include: Is There an Environmental Crisis? Should Biodiversity Be Preserved? How Can Pollution Be Reduced? Can Free-Market Approaches Protect the Environment? (20040901) ... Read more

Product Description
In order to really see the forest, what's the best way to count the trees? Understanding how the economy interacts with the environment has important implications for policy, regulatory, and business decisions. How should our national economic accounts recognize the increasing interest in and importance of the environment? "Nature's Numbers" responds to concerns about how the United States should make these measurements. The book recommends how to incorporate environmental and other non-market measures into the nation's income and product accounts. The panel explores alternative approaches to environmental accounting, including those used in other countries, and addresses thorny issues such as how to measure the stocks of natural resources and how to value non-market activities and assets. Specific applications to subsoil minerals, forests, and clean air show how the general principles can be applied. The analysis and insights provided in this book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, environmental advocates, economics faculty, businesses based on natural resources, and managers concerned with the role of the environment in our economic affairs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Accessible information on "Greening" the NIPA
Nature's numbers is the work ofthe Panel on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting chaired by William Nordhaus (Economist) to "address the question of whether the U.S. National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) should be broadened to include activities involving natural resources and the environment" p.1.

The book has five sections, the Introduction, a brief history of NIPA and its application to the environment, accounting for subsoil mineral resources, accounting for renewable and environmental resources and an overall appraisal. It also includes useful appendices giving data sources, mathematical formulae for forestry accounting and an explanation of the Output-sustainability correspondence principle.

This book is very accessible, and requires only minimal familiarity with national income accounting, and environmental economics.Chapter 1 is a short history of national income accounts. Chapter 2 discusses the deficiencies of the traditional measures and how economists are trying to incorporate non-economic forms of capital into the accounting framework. Chapter 3 is a brief discussion of how to account for subsoil minerals and what the current problems are that face those who try to measurethese resources, not only measurement problems, but conceptual as well, such as appropriate discount rates when valuing mineral stocks. Chapter 4 discusses renewable and environmental resources focusing on forests and air quality; again the authors discuss the valuation issues both within the U.S (B.E.A) and also overseas. The final chapter deals with recommendations from the panel about what the B.E.A should do, and not surprisingly requests extra funding for the B.E.A to carry out this task. Among the other recommendations, the panel suggests that the B.E.A should work on a comprehensive set of accounts rather than the staged-approach that it had previously followed till it was ordered to cease work on its task.

Those who would find this book useful are mostly students of economics and/or the environment. It is quite informative and gives the flavor of what it is those involved in the collection, interpretation and distribution of statistics are involved in. There is not much math (for the math averse) and whatever math is involved is in the Appendix. ... Read more

Product Description
Ecological security seems increasingly precarious and battles over land and models of economic development now lead to military conflicts. The Gendered New World Order addresses the compelling issue of how gender connects the global problems of militarism, underdevelopment, and environmental decay. Scholars from around the world make connections betweenseemingly disparate issues such as refugees, polluted waters, bombed vilages, massive dam projects, starving children, deforestation, nuclear arms buildup and the rights of women. ... Read more

Product Description
This book takes a comprehensive look at the environmental costs of wars around the world since the end of World War II, drawing on case studies from Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Africa, and other regions. ... Read more

Product Description
Fire suppression caused a surfeit of natural fuels in our forests, cumulating in the increasingly severe, uncontrollable fires of recent years: the fires in Yellowstone, the Oakland Hills fires, Los Alamos, and the summers of 2000 and 2001. Carle explores 100 years of controversy over prescribed burning--using fire as a tool--and fire suppression, using the voices of early advocates and today's proponents to examine the strategy of controlled burning. ... Read more

Product Description
At present there is insufficient knowledge of the behavior of fires and how they propagate. This lack of
information makes it very hard to control these phenomena and is one of the biggest obstacles to the development of a reliable decision support system. Public concern regarding this topic is increasing as uncontrolled fires may lead to major ecological disasters, and usually result in negative economic and health
implications for the region.

Containing papers presented at the First International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Forest Fires, this book addresses the latest research and applications of available computational tools to analyze and predict the spread of forest fires in order to prevent or reduce major loss of life and property
as well as damage to the environment. Such tools must be able to take into consideration a large number of different parameters. The book thus deals with all aspects of forest fires, from fire propagation in different scenarios to the optimum strategies for
fire-fighting. It also covers issues related to economic, ecological,
social and health effects.

Featured topics include: Computer Models for Fire Propagation; Risk
and Vulnerability Assessment; Fire Combustion Models; Computational
Methods and Experiments; Case Studies; Emergency Response Systems; Optimization Models for Fire Mitigation; Environmental Impact Models; Air Pollution and Health Risk; Interaction between Meteorological and Forest Fires Models; Economic Impact Models; Forest Material
Characterisation; Eco Remediation Models; Decision Support Systems;
Monitoring Systems and Data Acquisition and Analysis. ... Read more

Product Description
Runner-up, 2009 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award given by the International Studies Association.

In the second half of the twentieth century, worldwide attitudes toward whaling shifted from widespread acceptance to moral censure. Why? Whaling, once as important to the global economy as oil is now, had long been uneconomical. Major species were long known to be endangered. Yet nations had continued to support whaling. In The Power of Words in International Relations, Charlotte Epstein argues that the change was brought about not by changing material interests but by a powerful anti-whaling discourse that successfully recast whales as extraordinary and intelligent endangered mammals that needed to be saved. Epstein views whaling both as an object of analysis in its own right and as a lens for examining discursive power, and how language, materiality, and action interact to shape international relations. By focusing on discourse, she develops an approach to the study of agency and the construction of interests that brings non-state actors and individuals into the analysis of international politics.

Epstein analyzes the "society of whaling states" as a set of historical practices where the dominant discourse of the day legitimated the killing of whales rather than their protection. She then looks at this whaling world's mirror image: the rise from the political margins of an anti-whaling discourse, which orchestrated one of the first successful global environmental campaigns, in which saving the whales ultimately became shorthand for saving the planet. Finally, she considers the continued dominance of a now taken-for-granted anti-whaling discourse, including its creation of identity categories that align with and sustain the existing international political order. Epstein's synthesis of discourse, power, and identity politics brings the fields of international relations theory and global environmental politics into a fruitful dialogue that benefits both. ... Read more

Product Description
Ottawa and the provinces share responsibility for environmental protection. As a result, environmental policy is an area that offers some insight into how the two orders of government interact. 'Managing the Environmental Union" brings together a diverse set of authors from law, political science, and policy studies to consider how we think about intergovernmental relations and environmental policy, and what drives the two orders of government toward various patterns of cooperation, competition, conflict, and mutual avoidance. The authors offer insights into the consequences of these patterns for both environmental protection as well as for the broader sweep of intergovernmental relations. They compare Canada to the United States and to other federations, notably Germany and Australia. "Managing the Environmental Union" offers a detailed account of how, and to a certain extent why, governments interact in the ways that they do, demonstrating the merits of moving beyond a simple dichotomy of conflict or cooperation when describing intergovernmental relations. ... Read more

Product Description
With its low incomes, lagging social indicators and widespread poverty, eastern Indonesia epitomizes the problems of development in Indonesia. The challenge is to advance the economy. But this means more intensive use of natural resources, placing pressure on the region's unique ecosystems. This book explores the trade-offs and synergies between development, social concerns and the environment in Papua, Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara. It is written by leading scholars and experts on the region. They investigate the dilemmas of fishing in eastern Indonesia's seas, the strategies and challenges for mining and forestry, and the efforts to tackle biodiversity conservation and climate change. The book lays out the challenges for development, public administration and public health in Papua. It maps Maluku's road to recovery from conflict. And it examines ways to alleviate poverty in the desperately poor province of East Nusa Tenggara. The book provides an overview of the economy of each of these provinces, making it an essential resource for anyone interested in the challenges of development and environment in eastern Indonesia. ... Read more

Product Description
How can we make the best use of the places we live in? In recent years, environmental conservation and sustainable development have become critical parts of the planning equation. However, most attempts to incorporate these considerations have focused too narrowly on specialised economic, geologic, biological, or other factors. With "Places", James Gordon Nelson and Patrick L Lawrence present a new, more complete approach to planning - the ABC Method. The ABC Method links abiotic, biotic, and cultural factors in a systematic and comprehensive analysis with the aim of achieving better understanding of and planning for the challenges facing places and the people living in them. Examples of the ABC method are presented through international case studies and are illustrated with photographs and maps. This book is written for environmental planners, decision makers, students, and all those who are concerned about the history and future of places, presenting a new, more highly integrated way of thinking that will help address serious challenges in effective, efficient, and equitable ways. ... Read more

Product Description
Environmental assessment and management involve the production of scientific knowledge and its use in decision-making processes. The result is that within these essentially rational, political assessment frameworks, experts are creating and applying scientific knowledge for decision and management purposes that actually have strong ethical and aesthetic dimensions. Yet these rational political frameworks lack the tools to provide guidance on ethical and aesthetic issues that affect the wider public.

This revolutionary work argues that ethical and aesthetic dimensions can only be brought into environmental politics and policies by citizens actively taking a stand on the specific matters in question. The author draws on Habermas’ trisection of rationality as cognitive-instrumental, moral-practical and aesthetic-expressive, to suggest that truly effective environmental policy needs to activate all three approaches and not favor only the rational. To achieve this objective, the author argues that public participation in environmental policy and assessment is necessary to counteract the dictatorship of technical and economic instrumentality in environmental policy—the failure to take ethical and aesthetic rationalities into account—and, more importantly, how such policy is applied on the ground to shape our natural and material world.
... Read more

Product Description
In both scientific research and public interest over the past two decades there has been a growing attention to environmental matters. This volume presents the views of a number of leading figures concerning the nature of environmental consciousness and the emergence of connections linking globalization (processes of intensifying social, political, and economic networks), globalism (our sense of the world as a whole), specific environments (such as rainforests or cities), and environmentalism (expressed in the activities of social movement organizations). ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Can America expand its economy and protect its environment? ... Read more

Product Description
In this groundbreaking book, Katrina Schwartz examines the intersection of environmental politics, globalization, and national identity in a small East European country: modern-day Latvia.Based on extensive ethnographic research and lively discourse analysis, it explores that country's post-Soviet responses to European assistance and political pressure in nature management, biodiversity conservation, and rural development.These responses were shaped by hotly contested notions of national identity articulated as contrasting visions of the "ideal" rural landscape.

The players in this story include Latvian farmers and other traditional rural dwellers, environmental advocates, and professionals with divided attitudes toward new European approaches to sustainable development.An entrenched set of forestry and land management practices, with roots in the Soviet and pre-Soviet eras, confront growing international pressures on a small country to conform to current (Western) notions of environmental responsibility-notions often perceived by Latvians to be at odds with local interests. While the case is that of Latvia, the dynamics Schwartz explores have wide applicability and speak powerfully to broader theoretical discussions about sustainable development, social constructions of nature, the sources of nationalism, and the impacts of globalization and regional integration on the traditional nation-state. ... Read more

Product Description
New in Paperback--David Louter explores the relationship between automobiles and national parks, and how-- together they have shaped our ideas of wilderness. He traces the history of Washington State's national parks--Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades--and considers what it means to view parks from the road and through a windshield.--"At its heart this book raises important questions about wilderness, democracy, and consumption: Is wilderness possible in a democratic consumer society that demands widespread public access?" --Western Historical Quarterly--"This is a fine, thoughtful book, one that connects the reader to familiar experiences in provocative ways. Excellent maps and photographs provide a means of relating the narrative to park landscapes. Louter demonstrates a thorough command of the relevant literature." -Pacific Northwest Quarterly--"A fascinating story of how the National Park Service managed to accommodate changing and contradictory ideas about the ideal relationship between nature and cars." -Technology and Culture--"Louter reminds us of the contingency and complexity of 'wilderness,' and moves us beyond the simplistic 'frontier Eden' critiques which have limited our understanding of this surprisingly malleable concept." -Journal of the West--"Windshield Wilderness. . . .is well-documented and includes an excellent bibliography. . . Anyone interested in the literature of the United States' conservation movement will profit from reading this book."-- -Columbia--"Scholars will certainly benefit from the precision of Louter's discussions, and readers interested in the intersection between bureaucracy, environment, and wilderness advocacy will find this book invaluable." -Oregon Historical Quarterly--"What Windshield Wilderness has to say about the changing role of automobiles in the twentieth-century American experience of wild nature will be of interest to anyone who cares not just about the three parks whose histories it explores-Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades-but parks and wild places all across the nation."-from the Foreword by William Cronon--"In this compelling book David Louter takes a seeming oxymoron-a windshield wilderness, a wild area seen from a car on an expensive and carefully engineered road-and uses it as an avenue for understanding the evolution of national parks."-Richard White, Margaret Byrne Professor of American History, Stanford University--"David Louter's Windshield Wilderness considerably advances our understanding of the relationship between the coming of modernity in the shape of the automobile and the idea of wilderness. Gracefully crafted and exquisitely argued, it is a marvelous addition to the literature of Western, environmental, and national park history."-Hal Rothman, Distinguished Professor of History, University of Nevada at Las Vegas--"Windshield Wilderness tackles an issue of great significance, both in terms of historical inquiry and contemporary public policy. If adopted by managers of reserves, its ideas and proposals could influence the direction of current park policy."-Peter Blodgett, Curator of Western Historical Manuscripts, Huntington Library--"David Louter is the beginning of a new generation of national park historians. His lively style draws me from page to page." - John Reynolds, former Deputy Director, National Park Service- ... Read more