Saving the Planet

Hal Rothman chronicles the American response to the environment in the 20th century, showing how the idea of conservation management was transformed after World War II into a program for quality of life. His cogent narrative history is punctuated throughout with accounts of crucial episodes in the growth of environmentalism—Hetch-Hetchy, the Echo Park Dam, the oil spill at Santa Barbara, Love Canal, and others. A thoughtful tracking of the American environmental sympathies during this century. —Kirkus Reviews. American Ways Series.