Description

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American Scientist Recommended Read

Historical narratives often concentrate on wars and politics while omitting the central role and influence of the physical stage on which history is carried out. In Losing Eden award-winning historian Sara Dant debunks the myth of the American West as “Eden” and instead embraces a more realistic and complex understanding of a region that has been inhabited and altered by people for tens of thousands of years.

In this lively narrative Dant discusses the key events and topics in the environmental history of the American West, from the Beringia migration, Columbian Exchange, and federal territorial acquisition to post–World War II expansion, resource exploitation, and current climate change issues. Losing Eden is structured around three important themes: balancing economic success and ecological destruction, creating and protecting public lands, and achieving sustainability.

This revised and updated edition incorporates the latest science and thinking. It also features a new chapter on climate change in the American West, a larger reflection on the region’s multicultural history, updated current events, expanded and diversified suggested readings, along with new maps and illustrations. Cohesive and compelling, Losing Eden recognizes the central role of the natural world in the history of the American West and provides important analysis on the continually evolving relationship between the land and its inhabitants.

About the Author

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Sara Dant is a Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of history at Weber State University. She is the coauthor of the two-volume Encyclopedia of American National Parks. Tom S. Udall is a former United States senator and representative of New Mexico who has been a strong advocate for renewable energy, the environment, and conservation efforts.

Praise For…

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"This updated and revised edition of the book brings more multicultural history, incorporates current events, and has a new chapter on climate change, along with new maps and illustrations."—Jaime Herndon, American Scientist

"This is a penetrating take on the complicated ways that humans impact their environs."—Publishers Weekly

"Compelling and accessible to a broad audience. . . . [Demonstrates] why understanding the environmental history of the US West is as pressing now as ever."—Jacey Anderson, H-Environment

"An updated version of the original 2017 publication, Losing Eden is a classic in the environmental history of the American West."—Harlan Hague, Roundup Magazine

"In writing such an accessible book for general readers and scholars alike, Dant successfully manages to create a space for everyone to feel a sense of responsibility for the future of the West."—Georgianna Karahalis, Annals of Wyoming

"[Dant] is especially skilled at presenting complex, sometimes controversial topics in an engaging and fun-to-learn manner."—Ed Roberson, mountainandprairie.com

"A clarion call for sustainability."—Kim Jackson, Nevada Historical Quarterly

“Everyone should take a look at Sara Dant’s book Losing Eden. It’s a history of something bigger than us and an essential read for anyone who cares about the past and future American West.”—Ken Burns, filmmaker

“Sara Dant has created something seemingly unattainable: a one-volume book—full of incisive analysis, wrapped in unforgettable storytelling—that covers the deep environmental history of the American West from twenty-five thousand years ago to today. She delivers an important cautionary tale about the relationship between people and nature, always asking a simple question: ‘At what cost?’ I learned something on every page.”—Dayton Duncan, author of The National Parks: America’s Best Idea

“Sara Dant’s Losing Eden is an environmental masterpiece about the American region she holds near and dear to her heart. Whether Dant tackles the problems of aridity, massive wildfires, or climate change, she hits all the right notes. . . . This is a brilliant book, learned to its core, that will stand the test of time. Environmental history at its absolute finest. Highly recommended!”—Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and professor of history at Rice University