Environmental-Health Books

This book has a lot of valuable info. It was preaching to the crier a bit for me but still it is always good to have ones views validated. The recipes may be more local in California and New York where getting some of the ingredients is a lot easier, but not necessarily local. Use them as inspiration rather than dogma(which the author points out herself). Have fun experiment and create your own cooking play list(something I found to be a really fun aspect of the book).

If you're like me and just getting a clue that something's amiss in our food chain and only now realizing big business has dollars instead of nutrition in mind when creating new foods, then this book helps you explain why and how that happened. Plus, you can give family and friends ideas about what to do about it - and that's only in the first half of this concise and clear read. With the second half, you can create a great meal. Organized around the way many of us cook these days - for others and for a party - the recipes are a step up from your average fare but not so complex that they can't be delicious on the first try. I highly recommend its smarts and strong flavors!

First of all, I would like to say that I simply adore the recipes in this book. I do consider most of them to be "special occasion" food, since I can't always afford some of the ingredients, but it's good to have fancy food every now and then.

My only complaint with this book is that the authors seem to show contempt for anyone who follows a specific lifestyle or diet. As a dedicated vegan myself, I choose not to eat animal products as part of my effort to not support the meat industry or the suffering of other living things. So, when the authors gave examples of "vegans" sneaking cheese, or "vegetarians" sneaking seafood, that seems unfair. Obviously these "vegans" and "vegetarians" are not in fact what they say they are. That doesn't mean that every veg-head out there is a hypocrite who's to weak to "do without".

If the book didn't have that snide little comment, I'd give it 5 stars. But buy it for the recipes anyways!! Yum!

This book is extremely well written, it was able to hold the attention of someone not in the field of nutrition/food systems (such as my husband who develops software) and captured me from the opening paragraph. I work in food systems and am very familiar with the issues Anna writes about. I appreciate all the research that went into writing this book, the detailed fact checking and the beautiful recipes developed to accompany it. I was educated, enlightened and exposed to new music artists all at the same time while reading this book--what more could I ask for?

I really liked this book. The recipes are healthy, easy to prepare and delicious!!!

While I enjoyed this book (it reads fluently), it seems that it tries to do 2 separate things. The first is an extended and repetitious treatment of how the U.S. has lost its world position and influence in the world-wide regulation of the chemical industry due to regulatory recalcitrance and inaction. The second relates how the impact of the U.S. policy of waiting for problems to "emerge" or waiting for the legal system to highlight "problems" (which may need regulatory adjustment) vs. the EU policy of "precautionary" regulation has put U.S. citizens "at risk" to numerous potentially hazardous chemicals. The second focus was of more interest to me and I thought there would be a more thorough treatment of these potential hazards.

I really wanted to like this book. It's an interesting and important subject, a perfect fit for the kind of thing I usually like to read. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to its tag line. "Toxic chemistry"? There's *no* chemistry at all here. I don't expect a book like this to read like a scientific journal, but it would have been nice if there had been just a little description of exactly what effect these chemicals have on our bodies. Similarly, a few anecdotes about people whose lives were directly affected by exposure to these awful chemicals would have done a lot to strengthen the message. I know the effects are diffuse, but a professional writer should be able to find *one case* to illustrate his point.

So what do we get instead of word from either scientists or ordinary people? Endless quotes from envirocrats - regulatory officials on one side, chamber-of-commerce types on the other, plus consultants and lobbyists and lawyers for both sides. The author's only concern, pounded into us over and over and over and over and over again, is that the US is *losing its policy leadership* to the EU. The human toll hardly gets a nod; it's the economic and geopolitical implications that get this author's dander up. Even as economics, though, the book fails. There are a few vague numbers tossed around, but no properly-sourced charts or graphs to illustrate the magnitude of the economic effects involved. A picture would have been worth ten thousand of these words.

This book could have been the Fast Food Nation of its topic area. Instead it is itself fast food - cheap mental calories, soon forgotten. What a shame.

I just finished this book chemicals in our food, electronics, and other products, and how regulation addresses them.And how that regulation affects markets.

It has a neat little store of information on the current European initiatives to protect their consumers ( REACH program ) and relates American govt and businesses responses to it. (It may or may not surprise you that the Bush administration sent lobbyists (even including Colin Powell!)
to push against raising standards.

Below, a handful of highlights, and if you're interested, you can check the other reviews (which are quite good in their coverage.)

- We're either ignoring or not adopting REACH standards for the most part. It's still perceived as
too expensive. (EU experience has shows otherwise in cases.) I suspect that, for the transnational corporations, this'll change quickly, and they'll adopt.

- Our goods across a wide swath from food to cosmetics will be blocked at the border and returned if they don't comply with REACH.(And GMO standards, etc.)

- Not only the EU, but a large number of major traders are adopting these standards. Brazil, Mexico, and yes, China.

- REACH does two things our EPA and FDA don't: it measures risk by citing chemicals with known
bad effects (e.g. teflon), and not by the more common Monte Carlo and human/behavior models
used here, and it considers ALL chemicals up for review, and unlike the EPA, it does not
grandfather in tens of thousands of chemicals without testing. For these reasons, it is much
stricter.

-There a few interesting stories about how some nations in the EU wanted stricter standards (for, e.g. GMOs) but were bent back to the mean by the EU/Brussels.Austria being one example.

- The information on GMOs in one chapter is very well presented. It gave a fascinating synthetic
and integrated look at GMO across market, lobbying, technical, and regulatory considerations. I
learned a lot in a few pages.

EXPSOED gave me enough background to understand why we're increasingly talking about "toys with lead paint" here in the States but why many other countries no longer worry about this. The USA will become a dumping ground for potentially dangerous products refused by other major nations.

It also, going back to GMO food, made it clear why ethanol is being pushed so hard by the Bush administration: the EU has *very* strict rules against GMOs, and most of our corn is now GMO, and largely unacceptable to the EU. The story from France about their anti-GMO crop destroying
vigilante group was especially interesting!

In any case, this book is highly recommended (it's a flash to read) by social theorists who want to see their theories played out in practice, by political hacks and business lobbyiests, by "green" types, by anti/pro globalizers, and by free-market wackos (that'd be me).

Oh, and there's an interesting quote in their by Stiglitz, about how market capitalism is not good, because of the information asymmetry between the consumer and the producer. It made me think of Sy Syms (if you're an older NY'er, you'll remember old Sy) who always said "An educated consumer is our best customer". Amen, Sy.

( I would have given the book five stars -- it is well-referenced and thought out -- but the omission of any commentary whatsoever on Codex Alimentarius, and its sotto voce slant toward "only the State will protect us" took the edge of this otherwise very appealing book by Schapiro.

Enjoy!

I heard him on NPR and immediately bought his book! I found out that the European Union has rules about safety for toys, makeup, etc. which our corporate-lobbyist-paid-off government lead by the Republican Administration refuses to incorporate into law protecting us. Why won't they protect American children? Because they say it is 'bad for business.' Simply stated this means parents of children in Slovenia and all other EU countries don't have to worry about lead in toys, because of the EU's strong inforcement of these laws, but American parents DO have to worry. So in short -- China DOES make toys which are safe, and they sell them to EU countries. Things the EU refuses to allow on their shelves gets sent back to China and ends up in America. Also Shapiro let's us know cosmetic companies make products without lead and other cancer causing chemicals to sell in the EU due to the EU's strict laws protecting their citizens, but those same companies continue to make products with these banned chemicals and sell them eagerly in America. What the heck is up with that?!! Obviously we mere citizens cannot expect businesses to DO THE RIGHT THING because they do it only when forced to by the EU, but won't follow those standards unless our government forces them to provide safe products for American consumers. My opinion: If congress and the government agencies who are supposed to protect us can't get it together -- let's follow all the EU restrictions and say -- "We'll have what they are having!" Thanks for putting this issue out there in such a clear manner, Mr. Shapiro. My fellow Americans, buy this book and throw out the bums in 2008!!!!!

I encourage everyone who lives in or plans to visit the United States to read this book so you can appreciate how dangerous the products are that companies deliver here . . . even though many provide much safer versions in Europe and other parts of the world. Why? Governments outside the U.S. respond more to citizen concerns about safety than they do to pressure from product suppliers to reduce regulation.

While some will see this as a Bush-bashing book, it seemed to me from reading Exposed that the prior Clinton administration didn't seem to do much better in safeguarding citizens from various toxic risks.

What's the story line? It's convoluted . . . which is why I graded the book down one star. Let me see if I can encapsulate the key points in a brief list:

1. Industry lobbyists have succeeded in persuading the U.S. government for a long time to not test many suspect items for toxicity, presuming that if it's in use . . . it's okay.

2. Independent scientists report that most of these items aren't okay.

3. The new European government is heeding citizen concerns about harmful substances and is requiring that they be eliminated from products and landfills. This means reformulating products if you are a global company and recycling hazardous materials.

4. Because the European economy is larger than the U.S., most global companies are complying in Europe. Some are choosing to make all products to the European standard, but many leading U.S. companies still make and sell toxic versions for the U.S. Some Chinese manufacturers are doing the same.

5. Many governments are about to adopt the European standards so that almost any other country will be a safer place to avoid toxins than the U.S.

6. The U.S. government is lobbying like crazy in Europe and elsewhere for its views, and annoying foreign governments even more than before.

7. The U.S. has little or no influence on world standards for product and environmental safety as a result.

The book suggests that the well documented problems of falling fertility in the U.S. are probably tied in some way to these unregulated toxins.

Are free markets always good for us? This article suggests otherwise when no one wants to speak up about poisons.

I have read both books by Dr. Davis. She is fascinating, informative, and very informative. I had the chance to hear her speak once, and it changed my views on so many things. She is very couragous in discussing the truth of what is happening to the earth, and to our bodies. A must read for everyone!

Dr. Davis has both the academic credentials and family experience to write the real story of the Donora PA tragedy and then to use that as a jumping off point to expose some of the "environmental deception" that had made our air less breathable and our water less drinkable coming into the 21st century. She ranges widely, from the deadly fogs that hit both Donora and London in the 1940s and 50s to breast cancer to problems we may encounter through global environmental change. Lost in many of this crises, she notes, is the cost of public health problems caused by pollutants in our air, water, and food.

While her message is an important one, there are two problems that keep this book from being a five star title: range and editing.

As noted, the book moves across many problems confronting us today. By doing so, however, Dr. Davis can only touch the surface of some issues, weakening her presentation by jumping too quickly from one point to another and covering key points to her central thesis less extensively than one would prefer. The chapter on breast cancer, for example, might better have been saved for what became her next book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer,

I am hesitant to criticize a book that has, justifiably, won awards and acclaim, but this would be far more accessible and easily referenced with stronger editing. Davis sometimes writes almost in a stream of consciousness approach, without any kind of break to indicate the commentary has shifted. Usually, there is at least paragraph separation to help the reader understand that she has gone on to another topic, but what does one do with a paragraph like one on page 279?

The beginning of the quote references a campaign to stop construction of a huge "cement industrial city" and proceeds, "The plant would release 1.47 million pounds of particles each year from a stack that will be one of the tallest structures from New York to Montreal and would dwarf the Statue of Liberty. Deborah Axelrod, the breast cancer surgeon who wrote *Bosom Buddies* with Rosie O'Donnell, knows how to use humor to diffuse the trauma of cancer..."

Passages like this make the book less readable and can sometimes cause confusion that might put off some readers who would benefit greatly from the overall content. Sad to see when there is so much importance in what she has to say.

I purchased this book as a gift for friends who are passionate about the environment and health. I felt it would be a great boost to those that feel that no matter how hard they try, nothing seems to change. This book is a wonderful account of years and decades of fighting for what is right. The most wonderful part is that the end result of several of the battles against big business and money have been won! The book provides a documentary type summary of some of the worlds biggest battles against toxins and polutions and how tedious these battle were (example - leaded gasoline). It shows how fairness and truth are discarded, but seem to resurface again and again thanks to dedicated people who continue to fight for what is right. The courage and dedication of Devra Davis is amazing. This book is truly inspiring.

Very thorough history of dangers of air pollution. It affects the average person though we don't recognize it. Studies back up the evidence this excellent author presents. Reading this author's works will educate you quite quickly on how the enviroment affects your personal health and how government, commerce and industry are not your protectors.

This is a good and balanced book, especially considering the vested interests of the author (her life!). Too often, these types of books turn into little more than political rants. This is not the case here. Sure, there are political actions and inactions that are discussed, but no personal attacks.

There is not a tremendous amount of scientific data in this book, but I did not expect it. I was not looking for a tome of information. The author delivers on her personal and professional experiences in what is the best way possible. If only we could get others to follow her lead.

This book has certainly opened our eyes as to what allergens can exist that one would never dream were in their home. It is so totally awesome and explicit with explainations. It's a must read for anybody who has known allergies or even suspects possible allergies. It will surprise you what can be causing your health issues. The culprit may be allergens in your home, in your yard, in your vehicle.

My daughters have a range of chronic respiratory issues to simple allergies. This book helped me realize what I can do for them and it has made a difference. The main point is to find the source of the allergen before purchasing solutions. We thought our air purifier and humidifier were great machines to help with cleansing and adding moisture to the indoor air. Boy, were we wrong. We may have actually been spewing out mold particles and distributing dust mite fecal material into the air. The first part of the book was hard to read because it shows the common causes of allergies - dust mites and other little creatures that may be in your pillow at this moment. The book made suggestions from simple to the complex. Some of our changes were simple like using a wet mop on our floors, adding dust-mite-proof pillow cases, and running stuffed animals through the dryer. Fortunately, we didn't have to go to the extreme to get some relief and my daughters are coughing and sneezing much, much less. This book gives you some tools to help you become an indoor air detective in your home or at least, where to begin to get help.

"My House Is Killing Me!" is a wonderful book with lots of great information for people who are allergic to mold, mildew, and dust mites.

Contrary to the broadly worded title, this book contains relatively little information for people who are allergic to tree pollen, grass pollen, weed pollen, pet dander, and chemicals (i.e., chemical sensitivity). Unfortunately, I'm allergic to everthing on the second list and nothing on the first list. So, most of this book wasn't very helpful for me.

However, if dust mites, mold, or mildew trigger your allergies, you will find this book quite helpful. Each chapter addresses one room and ends with a list summarizing what you can do to improve that room. The book contains numerous stories about houses triggered allergies of these sorts, why, and what can be done about it -- the presentation of these stories was too mellodramatic for my tastes, but the advice appears to be sound and well considered.

Jeffrey May is a clear, concise communicator. He offers specific, helpful information. Easy to read and useful.

I got this book for our mildew issues. Our house doesn't breath very well. So far the advice has been good (we breath much better now for it), except I find the chapter on pets very disappointing and limited. The only advice the author really offers on dealing with pet allergies is to get rid of the pets. She is obviously not an animal person as she appears to describe pets as dirty (her most experience is talking about her mothers' ill-trained dogs). A lot of my friends who have allergies and pets would toss this book in the trash because of this as they've learned to live with their pets and fantastically manage their allergies at the same time. There's a lot of things you can do to keep pets even when you have allergies (switch pet foods, litters, shampoos, drink apple vinegar cider, vacuum more regularly, groom regularly, etc).

Very informative, easy to understand. Great for anyone who wants to learn more about living lighter on the earth.

I love this book. It is exactly want I was looking for. Each chapeter gives good info for someone who is interested in living a green life. And the best part is at the end of each chapter the book gives you lists of company's and/or organizations with contact info/websites having to do with the topic of the chapter.

My husband calls this book my bible. I read it from front to back. It is an easy read for someone who is trying to get on the green path to life. I just bought five books for the holidays and gave them away to people that I felt would read it, appreciate it but yet have a lot of work to do to green their lives. Spread the word!

i enjoyed the info -- it helped me to write a successful essay

I truly enjoyed this book. It is a great reference for someone like myself that is new to going green. I enjoy the fact that the book gives you information on why certain products are not healthy and then gives you options on things you can do as well as alternative products to use. This is a great book of reference on your book shelf if you are new to going green. I am sure there are some more intense books if you are aware of the general information this book gives. It was an easy read and has me wanting to make some serious changes (I have already started using organic and vegan soap). I plan on buying this book for various family members and friends.

Eeeek! After reading this I am never, ever eating non-organic meat again. And if I win the lottery I think I'll raise my own critters for eggs & milk (or better yet pay someone else to do it!). This book is frightening but helps explain why many of us feel so damned cruddy most of the time. There are so many toxins and chemicals and other assorted grossities in our food supply it's a wonder many of us are still breathing.

Parts of the book are a bit meandering and repetitive but I am very glad I took the time to get through it.

Wow! Judging from the prices of these used copies, the scalpers are out in force now that we have MCD in USA. You can get this book FREE as a download at www.prwatch.org/books/mcusa.pdf .

It is a great book, with a great history of the disease, its epidemiology, and uncovers the truth about the beef industry and their ties to the Dept of Agriculture. Get it!

Parden the pun but where's the beef?
If Dr. Gajdusek was accused of child abuse, how does that relate to Mad Cow?
If Kuru affected some brain eaters before Mad Cow entered the world's vocabluary does that require a whole chapter?
If sheep drop dead from a relative of BSE who cares?
The authors buried the dangers of beef so deep in unrelated and unimportant information, an earth mover couldn't get to the point.
Most meat eaters will write this book off as pure science totally unrelated to everyday life.
Ironicly, those same meat eaters have the most to loose from a carnivore diet. While BSE is rare, there are a million other reasons to avoid meat not the least of which is the filthy slaughter houses.

Six years before the appearance of mad cow disease in the US, this book predicted it. Mad Cow USA warned that the meat industry and the government were failing to take the necessary steps to prevent the disease here, and using falsehoods and PR to cover-up their failings. Unfortunately, this book nailed it.

This is an excellent activist book on the discovery of a new type of disease, BSE, also called Mad Cow Disease. The story involves a very interesting history of the science as well as the reactions of the beef and fast food industries.

In a nutshell, the disease appears to be caused by an improperly folded protein (a "prion"), which when it enters the bloodstream can multiply and eventually turn the host's brain into mush, with horrible consequences of course. What the authors highlight is that the mode of transmission appears to be ingestion of these bent proteins, principally from infected cows, years if not decades before symptoms appear. They also stress that the manner in which cows are raised in industrial agriculture makes transmission far more likely: they are directly fed ruminants (leftover cow remains that cannot be eaten by humans), thereby transferring the prions on a massive scale. Humans can then eat them and perhaps become infected by BSE.

After this fascinating and beautifully writtern history, the authors then explore what should be done. While some ruminant feeding has ceased, they argue, the actions of beef producers are both too little (because they are voluntary) and inadequate (because they allow certain forms of ruminant, such as blood, to be fed to cows today). This part of the book is pure advocacy and, I believe, effective in arguing that all ruminant feeding must cease. While I cannot weigh in on the science, it really got me to think in a more informed way.

Recommended. This could become a far greater debate if, it turns out, a lot more infected beef-eating Americans are found. The authors stimulate debate.

I liked it a lot except for the bible verses throughout the whole book. It felt as though it made me and my family much healthier, and was comprehendible.

This book is so well done that I have bought 6 to give to friends and family. I use her shopping lists every time I shop now. The Bible verses are a wonderful addition they are always seems just right for that day. Keep up the good work.

This book has opened my eyes and educated me on all the harmful things we put into our bodies and on our skin, through the food we eat and the products we use. I love that it gives simple and practical ways to start living healthier, one phase at a time. The author helps you ease into the process by giving advice on what to stop purchasing and what to buy instead. She has personally made these changes in her own life and with her family and discusses in the book how it can be hard at first but that your body will get used to it. I have been telling all my friends and family about this book and would recommend it to everyone.

This book is an easy read, I liked that not only did this book talk about food but other household items and personal products. As a mother of 2 children under 3 I love the shopping guide and found it particularly helpful as it gave me ideas on foods/brands to buy and try with my kids without me having to pour over packets of food in the supermarket and wonder if what I am feeding my family is actually good for them. Also, for anyone who loves cookies - the recipes in the back are worth buying the book for even if you don't care about healthy products!!

This book gives the shopper a lot to think about. Even if you don't adapt all of the author's suggestions, incorporating even a few will make you healthier. She provides steps, from easiest to adopt on up to total lifestyle change.

As a professional eco-friendly interior designer, I find Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet by Norma Lehmeier Hartie to be an indispensable tool for my work.

This book started the "green part" of my career. The sections on green living and green products for the home, along with the hundreds of resources, taught me everything I need to know--and where to purchase--green products for the home. There is also a chapter on organic and healthy food and eco-friendly personal care products and on cleaning supplies.

I utilize the tips on organizing and de-cluttering for my clients, too. (For those clients that simply can't get rid of stuff or organize, I give them the book as a gift! It works!)

The sections on Feng Shui are fantastic. Hartie makes difficult concepts easy to understand and execute. I also appreciate the fact that she takes Feng Shui into the 21st century and advises based on Western culture what makes sense. Superstitions based on eastern culture from 1000's of years ago are replaced with down-to-earth and timely advice.

As an interior designer, color is a big part of my job. Hartie incorporates the psychology of color into decorating and this works really well. For example, cool colors like purples and blues work best in rooms that need quiet--like bedrooms--because they will decrease your blood pressure and allow you to rest.

The book has tons of information, but it is easily understood and includes a good index for future reference.

Harmonious Environment is a must-have!

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet, by Norma Lehmeier Hartie, is an indispensable reference book for anyone who cares about their health and well being and for the future of the planet.

Hartie concisely covers a wide range of subjects and includes a comprehensive listing of advisory organizations, product and service resources. Part I of the book, "Banish the Ugly from Your Life," is a blueprint for green, sustainable living. Discover how to replace toxic and unsustainable products from household cleaners to food (including recipes) to furniture to personal care products with safe, eco-friendly ones. Hartie is the tough but motivational Life Coach in her approach to cleaning, removing clutter and on organizing the home or office.

Part II, "Bring in the Beautiful to Create a Harmonious Environment and Self," includes a chapter on Earth-based spirituality and a fascinating look at the Four Elements (Earth, Fire, Air and Water) and the Medicine Wheel. The core of Hartie's philosophy blossoms in Chapter Seven, "Applying Harmonious Adjustments(tm): Using Feng Shui and Other Techniques for Powerful Results." Unlike other Feng Shui authors, Hartie has experience as a designer and her skills are apparent in this chapter and the following two. She has combined principles of Feng Shui, the Four Elements, color, energy, Vastu, creative visualization, and good design principles that create a unique and eclectic approach to home decorating. Finally, Hartie provides guidance on how to manifest personal or professional desires.

In Part III, "Putting the Pieces Together," Hartie skillfully integrates the many subjects of the book into a unified and cohesive whole.

At its cover price of $19.95, Harmonious Environment is a value alone for the comprehensive green living product suppliers in the Resources section.

What makes this book so truly ambitious, however, is what lies beneath the surface. In a sense, this book is only marginally about decorating ones home per se; it is a tome about personal transformation and about saving the earth. A theme that runs throughout the book is that all beings on earth are interconnected energetically. It is empowering to read that each person has the ability to manipulate their homes and self to both raise the collective energy and to manifest their own desires. Motivational, enlightening and well organized, Harmonious Environment is one remarkable book.

The most impressive aspect of Harmonious Environment is the cover of the book. I found the information to be very basic, idealistic, or common sense. If someone has lived in total chaos and now wants to morph into harmony, this is the book for you! If, however, you're already seeking harmony in your home, I would not recommend this book to you. Harmonious Environment is a primer and only for beginners.

This is a great book for both the beginner and those working on clearing their environment. A very interesting read.

This book has a little bit of everything - feng shui, zodiac signs, dowsing, recipes, and organizational tips. It's so full of information it can be a little overwhelming, but she does organize the book very well. I enjoyed the food recipes and the recipes for natural cleaning solutions. The author also states that dogs prefer positive energy and that cats prefer negative energy, which I have long suspected.

The book has too much of a mystical hoopla vibe for me, though. I stopped when she got to the section about the negative effects of tampons on my spiritual energy or whatever.

This is such a wonderfully put together book. It's extremely well researched and filled with amazing photos. This is the kind of book that should be read by anyone concerned about "development," no matter where they live, because we all share the same issues. I, for one, live in Arkansas, and I would love it if Jan Albers wrote a similar book for my state. Hands On The Land is that good.

This is a fantastic book for those who love Vermont and the history of the land and environment. It's informative - has great photos and is just a joy to pick up at any time to take a browse. I highly recommened it.

As an English Professor, I often try to root out the "story behind the story". Jan Albers holds a PhD from Yale, but fails to mention a background in newspaper journalism. How does one detect such a hidden past? By her consistent omission of the Oxford, or "serial" comma in her writing.

Newspaper writers often omit the final comma preceding the "and" in a series of items in a sentence to save precious column inches, thus:

"Joe had eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast."

Whereas the rest of the literary world generally includes commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series, thus:

"Joe had eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast."

Thus, I can but conclude the author's style was strongly influenced by a background in newspaper journalism.

Excellent book, just the same. History has long ignored the stage upon which the play was set.

Rarely has a volume of such physical grace and beauty contained such an important and topical message. I picked up my copy after returning to Vermont for a long weekend, and found the text both forceful, dynamic and informative, artistically combined with beautiful illustrations. Not a hagiography, and avoiding the temptation to airbrush the realities of Vermont into a pastiche of the country idyll in Yankee New England, Jan Albers has created an immensely readable but intellectually rigorous study of the development and land-use choices that Vermonters have made since the Abenaki were disturbed by white settlers.

This alone would be enough to qualify "Hands on the Land" for a place on the bookshelves of students of land-use and concerned citizens in rural and semi-rural areas everywhere. For a UK audience, the impact of sheep farming vs. cattle grazing (which denuded the forests of Vermont in the manner of the North York moors in the later 19th Century) only adds interest. That this study is so accessible and lavishly illustrated, (much in the style of the latest offerings from the OUP History of England series) commends it to the broadest possible audience. In fact, I was so taken with this that I bought two - one for my mother, a native and transplanted Vermonter, and one for me - your bookshelf will be a richer and happier place with a copy!

This remarkable book is essentially a history of Vermont told from the perspective of the relationship between human beings and the physical environment, i.e. how succeeding generations have tried to make a living out of a surprisingly inhospitable bit of territory. This provides useful lessons, as other reviewers note, on public policy and land use, but for me it was more interesting as a uniquely revealing approach to social and economic history. Among other revelations, the book highlights the fact that the popular image of Vermont as a throwback to an idyllic yesteryear is a recent creation promulgated to fuel the state's latest and arguably most successful land use ever -- tourism. The reality has been rather different. The book is easy to read, with pictures and graphics that contribute to the knowledge being conveyed. The overall conception would be worthy of emulation by historians and planners addressing other regions or periods.

I work with college students, and occasionally direct them to read the chapter on Curitaba. That alone will lift your spirits. What if a government actually decided to do things right? Here's what could happen.

This is a book of stories. As gripping as any stories can be. We need these stories because most people aren't heartened by policy analysis or political talking points. We need to hear that in some places, people made the right decisions and their lives are better for it.

Great book.

This exploration followed McKibben's THE END OF NATURE (Random House, 1989) by five years, and represents an effort by the author to find reasons for optimism after having so thoroughly examined our termination of the wilderness. He found some certifiable success stories, and the good cheer he offers here fits well with my own growing sense that we can and will restore the earth. Starting from the eastern U.S. where the recovery of the hardwood forests over the past century offers a remarkable example of the melding of urbanization and greening, he circles the globe to find other signs of change. While the reforestation of the east has been largely inadvertent -- created by shifts of agriculture and technology -- and is today threatened by industrial chip mills eager to turn woodland into paper towels, the clearcuts of the 18th and 19th century have regrown from New Hampshire to the Deep South. Elsewhere there are equally significant changes afoot. In Brazil, a country prey to the developing world's four horsemen of poverty, population growth, exploitation and corruption, one city has designed itself out of the mire. Curitiba is a decidedly un-third world oasis amidst the gloom. It has remade itself in its own image and has become a walkable, clean, prosperous and civil community. It has a higher percentage of car owners than Rio, but a vastly higher proportional use of public transportation. It has rejected the Interstate syndrome and performs its people-moving on tree shaded, human-scale streets. The poor are helped to buy land and build their own homes instead of squatting in shanty towns. Street children are employed and fed. The poor can trade bags of collected garbage for bags of food, solving three problems at once: street cleanup, feeding the hungry, and employing local farmers. And on, and on ... proving that urban planning doesn't have to be stupid, inhuman, short sighted and costly. Another example from the other side of the world comes from tropical India. Kerala, with a per capita income one-seventieth that of the U.S., has a higher literacy rate (100%) and a similar life-expectancy. The birth rate is close to our own and falling faster. Like Curitiba its quality of life stands head and shoulders above its region, nation and third-world expectations. It does this with a population the size of Canada's squeezed into a land area the size of Vancouver Island. "Kerala is the one large human population on earth which currently meets the sustainability criteria of simultaneous small families and low consumption," reports Will Alexander of San Francisco's Food First Institute (as quoted by McKibben). With the author, our eyes are opened to new possibilities emerging from ancient ways. Again and again McKibben serves up rich lessons about the shift necessary in both our technology and our psychology if we are to turn away from the consumerist passion which is destroying our life support. He searched for and found hope that we can go and do likewise. This book is a balm and a challenge and a wonderful read. Once more, Bill McKibben has laid claim to his spot on my short list of favorite, most readable writers. Attaboy!

Bill McKibben takes an original view of some environmental issues and some solutions. I was especially pleased to read about Curitiba in Brazil and the Kerala in India. This town in Brazil and state in India show that we humans can live full happy lives on our planet while using less resources. I was also pleased to read about reforestation in New England. This short hopeful book is definitely worth reading.

In it, there are stories about how entire communities have been positively transformed by the action of a few determined individuals. This book will have you contemplating how you can affect change in your own community, and will give you the courage to enact it.

This book is an exploration into what's right and what's wrong with the planet and our relationship with it. It was written as a sequel to an earlier book by McKibben, "The End of Nature." In this book, McKibben starts by identifying some areas where there is hope for improvement in the environment in the future. The book is arranged in four parts. In the first part, McKibben considers examples of environmental recovery in his own region. He then turns to two parts of the world with very different local solutions to global problems. The first of these is Curataiba, Brazil, a city made famously livable by some very forward-thinking city planners. He then turns to Kerala, India, noting that a relatively high quality of life can be achieved with extremely limited resources, provided one addresses the key structural problems of society first. In the last section of the book, he reflects on his observations from the three regions.

McKibben hardly needed to look any further than his own backyard for proof that the environment can indeed bounce back to some extent from extreme abuse. His backyard in the Adirondacks is now full of trees, a condition that is now common throughout the Eastern United States. Much more common, in fact, than it was just fifty years ago. A little over a hundred years ago, most landscapes in the Northeast were treeless. The trees had been cut down to clear fields, to use for ship building and house construction, and most notably, to use for fuel. With the invention of a plow that could at last turn the thick prairie soil, many of the New England farmers pushed westward, glad to leave their cold, stony fields to grow up into forest again. But changes in fuel usage played an even larger role in the recovery of the trees. A hundred years ago, we got 90% of our energy from wood, necessitating the cutting down of millions of acres of forest per year just to keep the economy going. With the switch to petroleum-based fuels, we now rely on wood for just 10% of our energy, and as a result, the forests in the East are now thicker than they have been for over four hundred years. In tandem with the return of the trees, the wildlife are also coming back, and wild turkeys and bear sightings are now more common in this region than they have ever been since the arrival of Europeans on the continent. As petroleum fuels become more difficult and expensive to come by, we can only hope that we will stumble on a new fuel to replace oil, just as oil replaced wood.

McKibben's discussion of Curataiba is quite stimulating. He describes how ingenious local leaders made the city into a model of a livable, workable metropolis. They did this not by copying technology of developed countries, but by creating original solutions based on locally available materials and culture. Kerala also was faced with seemingly insurmountable problems of poverty, race, and class. Individual leaders in Kerala were successful in getting the community to rally around local solutions to these problems. Thus, McKibben's theme seems to be, in a world of ever-increasing globalization, where all problems are global, the solutions need to be local.

I've been wrestling with trying to understand globalization ever since the protests in Seattle. Despite reading heavily on the topic and talking to others, I just couldn't understand why the protesters made such a fuss. I even completed a discussion course on globalization offered by the Northwest Institute, and I still didn't get it. But as I read this book, the problems of an economy controlled by transnational corporations finally began to sink in. McKibben describes the shocking extent of deforestation in Maine. It just so happens that a South African company is now one of the largest owners of timber rights in the state. With a home office some 10,000 miles distant, they don't have a personal stake in what happens to the Maine environment. So millions of acres of forest in the state are being clear cut, but visitors and locals don't notice the missing trees because the companies leave 50 yard wide swathes of undisturbed forest along the roads, trails, and waterways. Along with the clear cuts comes erosion, silting of streams, and massive loss of habitat for the wildlife. After reading about Maine, I thought about a plot of land up the road that is currently being logged. Fortunately, the land up the road is owned not by a transnational corporation, but by a neighbor, who has a vital interest in seeing that the forest remains healthy throughout his logging operations; indeed, he is truly managing the forest, rather than simply cutting down trees. I now see calls for supporting the local economy rather than going with the flow of globalization in a new light-in purchasing items made in a global economy, we may unwittingly be contributing to environmental destruction on a massive scale, destruction that is magnified by the fact that the decision makers in the production process have no personal interest in the environment that they are damaging. And the ones who do have a personal interest in that environment are powerless to fight the big companies. If, on the other hand, we support local producers and local economies, we can directly influence how the producers treat the land. At the same time, the local producers have a very personal interest in not causing damage to their own homes and livelihood. Indeed, there is plenty of food for thought in this book.