Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History / Ted Steinberg. - Tapa dura

"Ted Steinberg's book is a delight. [H]e shows how nature and natural events were influential in ways too often overlooked: for example, the role of climate in shaping the events and outcomes of the Civil War.... A coherent and well written overview of an extremely complex subject."-- Stephanie Pincetl, Department of Geography, University of Southern California, The American Historical Review"With this book, Ted Steinberg boldly places the environment at the center of an important new synthesis of American history.... Down to Earth elegantly synthesizes the most recent work in the field and presents the author's own interpretations."--Linda Nash, Department of History, University of Washington, The Journal of American History"Steinberg produces one of the best environmental histories ever written, a naturalist's version of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. Like Richard White and William Cronon, who worked this ground before him, he insists that our interaction with the land is a complex give-and-take that still leaves room for surprises."--Bruce Barcott, Outside Magazine"A challenging new look at American history describing how the environment has played a key role in every aspect of American development.... Richly researched and filled with fascinating details, this book takes an important new look at history and may cause readers to pause and consider the consequences of their lifestyle."--Library Journal"The most exciting and fundamentally new view of the national past in a generation. American history, in every sense, has never looked greener."--Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz, The Ecology of Fear, and Late Victorian Holocausts"Steinberg chronicles the ecological effects of the clear-cutting of forests, the great push west, the building dams and railroads, and the rise of the cattle and car industries, heady endeavors that have diminished biodiversity and created vast quantities of hazardous waste and garbage. A socially conscious sibling to Tim Flannery's Eternal Frontier, Steinberg's scintillating environmental panorama reveals the ripple effect of every choice we make, from creating nuclear weapons to eating fast food, driving SUVs, and maintaining perfect lawns."--Booklist"In this pioneering work, Ted Steinberg offers a bold new critical synthesis of American environmental history, the most ambitious that any scholar has attempted since the founding of the field more than a quarter century ago. By demonstrating the myriad but too often unackowledged ways in which familiar historical events have been intimately tied to the transformation and exploitation of the natural world, Down to Earth changes the way we think not just about our past, but our future as well."--William Cronon"Steinberg is a refreshing historian because he writes from an environmental perspective. And he's a refreshing environmentalist because he's not hysterical."--Toronto Globe and Mail"Steinberg's accessible survey will prove useful as a reference for green-inclined readers in and out of school."--Kirkus Reviews "Ted Steinberg's book is a delight. [H]e shows how nature and natural events were influential in ways too often overlooked: for example, the role of climate in shaping the events and outcomes of the Civil War.... A coherent and well written overview of an extremely complex subject."-- Stephanie Pincetl, Department of Geography, University of Southern California, The American Historical Review "With this book, Ted Steinberg boldly places the environment at the center of an important new synthesis of American history.... Down to Earth elegantly synthesizes the most recent work in the field and presents the author's own interpretations."--Linda Nash, Department of History, University of Washington, The Journal of American History "Steinberg produces one of the best environmental histories ever written, a naturalist's version of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. Like Richard White and William Cronon, who worked this ground before him, he insists that our interaction with the land is a complex give-and-take that still leaves room for surprises."--Bruce Barcott, Outside Magazine "A challenging new look at American history describing how the environment has played a key role in every aspect of American development.... Richly researched and filled with fascinating details, this book takes an important new look at history and may cause readers to pause and consider the consequences of their lifestyle."--Library Journal "The most exciting and fundamentally new view of the national past in a generation. American history, in every sense, has never looked greener."--Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz, The Ecology of Fear, and Late Victorian Holocausts "Steinbergchronicles the ecological effects of the clear-cutting of forests, the great push west, the building dams and railroads, and the rise of the cattle and car industries, heady endeavors that have diminished biodiversity and created vast quantities of hazardous waste and garbage. A socially conscious sibling to Tim Flannery's Eternal Frontier, Steinberg's scintillating environmental panorama reveals the ripple effect of every choice we make, from creating nuclear weapons to eating fast food, driving SUVs, and maintaining perfect lawns."--Booklist "In this pioneering work, Ted Steinberg offers a bold new critical synthesis of American environmental history, the most ambitious that any scholar has attempted since the founding of the field more than a quarter century ago. By demonstrating the myriad but too often unackowledged ways in which familiar historical events have been intimately tied to the transformation and exploitation of the natural world, Down to Earth changes the way we think not just about our past, but our future as well."--William Cronon "Steinberg is a refreshing historian because he writes from an environmental perspective. And he's a refreshing environmentalist because he's not hysterical."--Toronto Globe and Mail "Steinberg's accessible survey will prove useful as a reference for green-inclined readers in and out of school."--Kirkus Reviews "Ted Steinberg's book is a delight. [H]e shows how nature and natural events were influential in ways too often overlooked: for example, the role of climate in shaping the events and outcomes of the Civil War.... A coherent and well written overview of an extremely complex subject."-- Stephanie Pincetl, Department of Geography, University of Southern California, The American Historical Review "With this book, Ted Steinberg boldly places the environment at the center of an important new synthesis of American history.... Down to Earth elegantly synthesizes the most recent work in the field and presents the author's own interpretations."--Linda Nash, Department of History, University of Washington, The Journal of American History "Steinberg produces one of the best environmental histories ever written, a naturalist's version of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. Like Richard White and William Cronon, who worked this ground before him, he insists that our interaction with the land is a complex give-and-take that still leaves room for surprises."--Bruce Barcott, Outside Magazine "A challenging new look at American history describing how the environment has played a key role in every aspect of American development.... Richly researched and filled with fascinating details, this book takes an important new look at history and may cause readers to pause and consider the consequences of their lifestyle."--Library Journal "The most exciting and fundamentally new view of the national past in a generation. American history, in every sense, has never looked greener."--Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz, TheEcology of Fear, and Late Victorian Holocausts "Steinberg chronicles the ecological effects of the clear-cutting of forests, the great push west, the building dams and railroads, and the rise of the cattle and car industries, heady endeavors that have diminished biodiversity and created vast quantities of hazardous waste and garbage. A socially conscious sibling to Tim Flannery's Eternal Frontier, Steinberg's scintillating environmental panorama reveals the ripple effect of every choice we make, from creating nuclear weapons to eating fast food, driving SUVs, and maintaining perfect lawns."--Booklist "In this pioneering work, Ted Steinberg offers a bold new critical synthesis of American environmental history, the most ambitious that any scholar has attempted since the founding of the field more than a quarter century ago. By demonstrating the myriad but too often unackowledged ways in which familiar historical events have been intimately tied to the transformation and exploitation of the natural world, Down to Earth changes the way we think not just about our past, but our future as well."--William Cronon "Steinberg is a refreshing historian because he writes from an environmental perspective. And he's a refreshing environmentalist because he's not hysterical."--Toronto Globe and Mail "Steinberg's accessible survey will prove useful as a reference for green-inclined readers in and out of school."--Kirkus Reviews "Ted Steinberg's book is a delight. [H]e shows how nature and natural events were influential in ways too often overlooked: for example, the role of climate in shaping the events and outcomes of the Civil War.... A coherent and well written overview of an extremely complex subject."-- StephaniePincetl, Department of Geography, University of Southern California, The American Historical Review"With this book, Ted Steinberg boldly places the environment at the center of an important new synthesis of American history.... Down to Earth elegantly synthesizes the most recent work in the field and presents the author's own interpretations."--Linda Nash, Department of History, University ofWashington, The Journal of American History"Steinberg produces one of the best environmental histories ever written, a naturalist's version of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. Like Richard White and William Cronon, who worked this ground before him, he insists that our interaction with the land is a complex give-and-take that stillleaves room for surprises."--Bruce Barcott, Outside Magazine"A challenging new look at American history describing how the environment has played a key role in every aspect of American development.... Richly researched and filled with fascinating details, this book takes an important new look at history and may cause readers to pause and consider theconsequences of their lifestyle."--Library Journal"The most exciting and fundamentally new view of the national past in a generation. American history, in every sense, has never looked greener."--Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz, The Ecology of Fear, and Late VictorianHolocausts"Steinberg chronicles the ecological effects of the clear-cutting of forests, the great push west, the building dams and railroads, and the rise of the cattle and car industries, heady endeavors that have diminished biodiversity and created vast quantities of hazardous waste and garbage. A sociallyconscious sibling to Tim Flannery's Eternal Frontier, Steinberg's scintillating environmental panorama reveals the ripple effect of every choice we make, from creating nuclear weapons to eating fast food, driving SUVs, and maintaining perfect lawns."--Booklist "In this pioneering work, Ted Steinberg offers a bold new critical synthesis of American environmental history, the most ambitious that any scholar has attempted since the founding of the field more than a quarter century ago. By demonstrating the myriad but too often unackowledged ways in whichfamiliar historical events have been intimately tied to the transformation and exploitation of the natural world, Down to Earth changes the way we think not just about our past, but our future as well."--William Cronon"Steinberg is a refreshing historian because he writes from an environmental perspective. And he's a refreshing environmentalist because he's not hysterical."--Toronto Globe and Mail"Steinberg's accessible survey will prove useful as a reference for green-inclined readers in and out of school."--Kirkus Reviews "Ted Steinberg's book is a delight. H e shows how nature and natural events were influential in ways too often overlooked: for example, the role of climate in shaping the events and outcomes of the Civil War.... A coherent and well written overview of an extremely complex subject."-- StephaniePincetl, Department of Geography, University of Southern California, The American Historical Review"With this book, Ted Steinberg boldly places the environment at the center of an important new synthesis of American history.... Down to Earth elegantly synthesizes the most recent work in the field and presents the author's own interpretations."--Linda Nash, Department of History, University ofWashington, The Journal of American History"Steinberg produces one of the best environmental histories ever written, a naturalist's version of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. Like Richard White and William Cronon, who worked this ground before him, he insists that our interaction with the land is a complex give-and-take that stillleaves room for surprises."--Bruce Barcott, Outside Magazine"A challenging new look at American history describing how the environment has played a key role in every aspect of American development.... Richly researched and filled with fascinating details, this book takes an important new look at history and may cause readers to pause and consider theconsequences of their lifestyle."--Library Journal"The most exciting and fundamentally new view of the national past in a generation. American history, in every sense, has never looked greener."--Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz, The Ecology of Fear, and Late VictorianHolocausts"Steinberg chronicles the ecological effects of the clear-cutting of forests, the great push west, the building dams and railroads, and the rise of the cattle and car industries, heady endeavors that have diminished biodiversity and created vast quantities of hazardous waste and garbage. A sociallyconscious sibling to Tim Flannery's Eternal Frontier, Steinberg's scintillating environmental panorama reveals the ripple effect of every choice we make, from creating nuclear weapons to eating fast food, driving SUVs, and maintaining perfect lawns."--Booklist "In this pioneering work, Ted Steinberg offers a bold new critical synthesis of American environmental history, the most ambitious that any scholar has attempted since the founding of the field more than a quarter century ago. By demonstrating the myriad but too often unackowledged ways in whichfamiliar historical events have been intimately tied to the transformation and exploitation of the natural world, Down to Earth changes the way we think not just about our past, but our future as well."--William Cronon"Steinberg is a refreshing historian because he writes from an environmental perspective. And he's a refreshing environmentalist because he's not hysterical."--Toronto Globe and Mail"Steinberg's accessible survey will prove useful as a reference for green-inclined readers in and out of school."--Kirkus Reviews

An innovative and provocative new approach to understanding American history turns readers attention to nature as the primary force shaping the course of the United States.