Sixteen thoughtful essays that examine the present and future
implications of America's past relationship to the land - and that
draw, as Worster (American History/University of Kansas; Rivers of
Empire, 1986, etc.) puts it, a "picture of the human past that is
radically unlike anything you will find in the standard
undergraduate history textbooks." In these pieces (some of which
appeared originally in academic journals and books), Worster speaks
with awe of the "search to discover a less reductive, less
ecologically and spiritually nihilistic, less grasping kind of
materialism." In this spirit, reminiscent of Thoreau and Joseph
Wood Krutch (one of the author's early inspirations), Worster
sounds deeply skeptical over the prospect that a market economy can
ever be compatible with responsible stewardship of this country's
natural resources: His own preference is for an environmentalism
"that talks about ethics and aesthetics rather than about resources
and economics." Not surprisingly, given these views, Worster throws
a wet rag over the concept of "sustained development"; hails an
American conservation revolution that views the land as an
interdependent ecosystem; and calls for an end to all federal
subsidies of western irrigation projects. As an alternative to
federal and state management of resources, he speaks eloquently
about individual responsibility for the environment. And when he's
not warning about our current encroachments on nature, Worster can
be especially illuminating about how the environment has affected
our past - pointing, for example, to the Midwest's overemphasis on
wheat-growing as a cause of the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930's;
discussing the 1935 Soil Erosion Act, the first comprehensive
legislation to preserve the lifeblood of American agriculture; and
carefully tracing the evangelical fervor of America's greatest
environmentalists to the dissident and missionary spirit of
Protestantism. Probably too pessimistic on reconciling conservation
with a market economy, but informed and lucid about how we've lost
ground in the fight to save our natural resources. (Kirkus Reviews)
Hailed as "one of the most eminent environmental historians of the
West" by Alan Brinkley in The New York Times Book Review, Donald
Worster has been a leader in reshaping the study of American
history. Winner of the prestigious Bancroft Prize for his book Dust
Bowl, Worster has helped bring humanity's interaction with nature
to the forefront of historical thinking. Now, in The Wealth of
Nature, he offers a series of thoughtful, eloquent essays which lay
out his views on environmental history, tying the study of the past
to today's agenda for change.
The Wealth of Nature captures the fruit of what Worster calls "my
own intellectual turning to the land." History, he writes,
represents a dialogue between humanity and nature--though it is
usually reported as if it were simple dictation. Worster takes as
his point of departure the approach expressed early on by Aldo
Leopold, who stresses the importance of nature in determining human
history; Leopold pointed out that the spread of bluegrass in
Kentucky, for instance, created new pastures and fed the rush of
American settlers across the Appalachians, which affected the
contest between Britain, France, and the U.S. for control of the
area. Worster's own work offers an even more subtly textured
understanding, noting in this example, for instance, that bluegrass
itself was an import from the Old World which supplanted native
vegetation--a form of "environmental imperialism." He ranges across
such areas as agriculture, water development, and other questions,
examining them as environmental issues, showing how they have
affected--and continue to affect--human settlement. Environmental
history, he argues, is not simply the history of rural and
wilderness areas; cities clearly have a tremendous impact on the
land, on which they depend for their existence. He argues for a
comprehensive approach to understanding our past as well as our
present in environmental terms.
"Nostalgia runs all through this society," Worster writes,
"fortunately, for it may be our only hope of salvation." These
reflective and engaging essays capture the fascination of
environmental history--and the beauty of nature lost or
endangered--underscoring the importance of intelligent action in
the present.
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