American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau (LOA #182) (Library of America)

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(as of Sep 09, 2026 03:59:29 UTC – Details)


As America and the world grapple with the consequences of global environmental change, writer and activist Bill McKibben offers this unprecedented, provocative, and timely anthology, gathering the best and most significant American environmental writing from the last two centuries.
Classics of the environmental imagination?the essays of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and John Burroughs; Aldo Leopold?s A Sand County Almanac; Rachel Carson?s Silent Spring?are set against the inspiring story of an emerging activist movement, as revealed by newly uncovered reports of pioneering campaigns for conservation, passages from landmark legal opinions and legislation, and searing protest speeches. Here are some of America?s greatest and most impassioned writers, taking a turn toward nature and recognizing the fragility of our situation on earth and the urgency of the search for a sustainable way of life. Thought-provoking essays on overpopulation, consumerism, energy policy, and the nature of ?nature? join ecologists? memoirs and intimate sketches of the habitats of endangered species. The anthology includes a detailed chronology of the environmental movement and American environmental history, as well as an 80-page color portfolio of illustrations.
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Library of America
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 17, 2008
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 900 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1598530208
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1598530209
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.65 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.99 x 8.17 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #85,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #158 in Outdoors & Nature Reference #175 in Nature Writing & Essays #254 in Environmentalism
Customer Reviews: 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (241) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers find this book to be an amazing collection of environmental writing, with one review noting its wide variety of perspectives and writing styles. They appreciate its readability, with one customer mentioning passages that can be read and enjoyed multiple times, and another highlighting how it opens minds to different views on human-environment relationships.