|
| Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism (Pioneers of Conservation) | 
| Author: Char Miller
Publisher: Island Press
Category: Book
List Price: $27.50
Buy New: $23.50
You Save: $4.00 (15%)
New (14) from $23.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 942573
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.3
ISBN: 1559638230
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.72092
EAN: 9781559638234
ASIN: 1559638230
Publication Date: January 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Island Press trade paperback, No marks or defects...as New...Bubble-wrapped and mailed in a Box w/delivery confirmation.
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
"...an absorbing, well-researched, and illuminating life of an American leader who now receives the full attention he deserves." -MICHAEL BESCHLOSS, EDITOR OF AMERICAN HERITAGE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE PRESIDENTS "Char Miller's lively, insightful account of the life and world of American forester Gifford Pinchot fills a vitally important gap in environmental and conservation history. Anyone captivated by the issues and controversies surrounding the preservation and development of the nation's natural heritage should read this engaging, carefully researched biography." -CAROLYN MERCHANT, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, AUTHOR OF THE DEATH OF NATURE Gifford Pinchot is known primarily for his work as first chief of the U. S. Forest Service and for his argument that resources should be used to provide the "greatest good for the greatest number of people." But Pinchot was a more complicated figure than has generally been recognized, and more than half a century after his death, he continues to provoke controversy. Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism, the first new biography in more than three decades, offers a fresh interpretation of the life and work of the famed conservationist and Progressive politician. In addition to considering Gifford Pinchot's role in the environmental movement, historian Char Miller sets forth an engaging description and analysis of the man -- his character, passions, and personality -- and the larger world through which he moved. Char Miller begins by describing Pinchot's early years and the often overlooked influence of his family and their aspirations for him. He examines Gifford Pinchot's post-graduate education in France and his ensuing efforts in promoting the profession of forestry in the United States and in establishing and running the Forest Service. While Pinchot's twelve years as chief forester (1898-1910) are the ones most historians and biographers focus on, Char Miller also offers an extensive examination of Pinchot's post-federal career as head of The National Conservation Association and as two-term governor of Pennsylvania. In addition, he looks at Pinchot's marriage to feminist Cornelia Bryce and discusses her role in Pinchot's political radicalization throughout the 1920s and 1930s. An epilogue explores Gifford Pinchot's final years and writings. Char Miller offers a provocative reconsideration of key events in Pinchot's life, including his relationship with friend and mentor John Muir and their famous disagreement over damming Hetch Hetchy Valley. The author brings together insights from cultural and social history and recently discovered primary sources to support a new interpretation of Pinchot -- whose activism not only helped define environmental politics in early twentieth century America but remains strikingly relevant today.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Interesting biography but poorly organized July 31, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book provides a biography of the founder of American forestry, Gifford Pinchot. There are other biographies, and Miller justifies this one in a strange way - - he argues that people too frequently see Pinchot as a transition between the West's nineteenth-century exploiters and twentieth-century environmentalists. However, Miller's account doesn't really challenge this portrayal, other than showing that Pinchot's perspective on sustainable development remains alive and well today.
A better justification would have emphasized that Miller gives serious attention to Pinchot's two terms as the governor of Pennsylvania. This part of the story allows Miller to pick up non-forestry themes such as economic justice, and to show how they shaped Pinchot's earlier career as Chief Forester. The coverage of Pinchot's later career is a real strength of the book, as are the comparisons between progressive Republican governor Pinchot (PA) and progressive Democratic governor FDR (NY) during the Great Depression. Both argued for a "New Deal," and the Republican rejection of Pinchot reflects fundamental changes in that party just as much as FDR's recasting of the Democrats changed American politics for 50 years.
Interesting as many of these stories are, the book has its frustrations for the reader. Miller often tells a part of Pinchot's story and then reaches back to grab narrative bits that belong earlier in the book, both chronologically and analytically. For example, Miller's story of Pinchot's campaign for governor gets him elected, and then reaches back to discuss his key support coalition. That coalition included prohibitionists, mineworkers, and women (suffragettes). Each of those groups reflects an important feature of Pinchot's character - - he was practically a teetotaler, he was socially progressive, and he had evolved toward gender equality. Each could have been part of the story much earlier, but all three come more or less as a surprise (the mineworkers are a partial exception). That surprise highlights an important flaw in Miller's strategy, in that he does not lay a sufficient foundation for the events he discusses.
The discussion of Pinchot's family life is similarly incoherent. It is the subject of some chapters but also appears as passages in other chapters, but does not appear in chronological order. The death of a near-fiancee, for example, appears mid-book despite its implications for both his professional and personal life.
Those are but two illustrations of a pattern throughout this book. It may be that the book consists of independently-written essays that Miller didn't edit sufficiently before including them in the book. Or it may be that Miller was trying to avoid a purely chronological biography but did not write a fully thematic one. Whatever the explanation, the organizational weakness detracts from what is otherwise an interesting story about an important figure in American political and environmental history.
|
|
|
Wildlife, nature and the Environment
Sponsored Links
Learn how to get your own Amazon Book shop | |
