English Environmental History

New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed presidential historian Douglas Brinkley chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the Long Sixties (1960-1973), telling the story of an indomitable generation that saved the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon...

A beautiful, lyrical exploration of the places where nature is flourishing in our absence "[Flyn] captures the dread, sadness, and wonder of beholding the results of humanity's destructive impulse, and she arrives at a new appreciation of life, 'all the stranger and more valuable for its...

From prehistory to the present-day conservation movement, Stephen Pyne explores the efforts of successive American cultures to master wildfire and to use it to shape the landscape. A timely environmental classic. Pyne was named by Science magazine as "the world's leading authority on the history of fire." The narrator of Fire in America, Jack de Golia, served as a firefighter with the National Park Service and then as a fire information officer for the NPS, Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service.

Few of us have any conception of the enormous timescales in our planet's long history, and this narrow perspective underlies many of the environmental problems we are creating for ourselves. Our everyday lives are shaped by processes that vastly predate us, and our habits will in turn have consequences that will outlast us by generations. Timefulness reveals how knowing the rhythms of Earth's deep past and conceiving of time as a geologist does can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future.

From the New York Times best-selling journalist, the staggering, hidden story of an unlikely band of mothers who discovered the deadly secret of Love Canal, and exposed one of America’s most devastating environmental disasters. Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their...

An “impassioned and inspiring account of the extraordinary men and women still doing traditional artisanal work” (The Sunday Times) in the face of massive technological industrialization—by renowned Cambridge art historian Dr. James Fox. “Beautifully written and (charmingly illustrated)...

The twenty-first century began optimistically in Latin America. Left-leaning leaders armed with programs to reduce poverty and reclaim national wealth were seeing results—but as the aughts gave way to the teens, they began to fall like dominos. Where did the dreams of this "pink tide" go? Look no further than the original culprits of Latin American disenfranchisement: resource-rich land and unscrupulous extraction.

A prize-winning science writer reveals the intricate ways that the elements are woven into our culture, history, and language in stories of discovery and discoverers; of rituals and values; of exploitation and celebration; and of superstition as well as science Like the alphabet, the calendar or...

The New York Times best-selling author on the source of great bounty—and now great peril—all over the world. Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital...

A former senior food policy advisor to President Obama breaks down how changing the way we eat can help fix the climate crisis, from rethinking daily habits to investing in new technology. “Smart, timely, and full of purpose.”—Michelle Obama “A wake‑up call for the future of our planet...

In Jawbreaker Gary Berntsen, until recently one of the CIA’s most decorated officers, comes out from under cover for the first time to describe his no-holds-barred pursuit of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. With his unique mix of clandestine knowledge and paramilitary training, Berntsen...

Rooted in Indigenous wisdom and a four-element framework, this book invites readers to rediscover and re-embody the truth that caring for ourselves and caring for the living Earth are one and the same. Global knowledge, personal stories, and natural science for repairing environmental harm...

ONE OF USA TODAY'S “20 SUMMER BOOKS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS” In the bestselling tradition of works by such authors as Susan Orlean and Mary Roach, a New York Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist explores why so many people—including herself—are obsessed with horses. It may surprise...

Humanity can make short work of the oceans' creatures. In 1741, hungry explorers discovered herds of Steller's sea cow in the Bering Strait, and in less than thirty years, the amiable beast had been harpooned into extinction. It's a classic story, but a key fact is often omitted. Bering Island was the last redoubt of a species that had been decimated by hunting and habitat loss years before the explorers set sail.

A Nature Best Book of 2025 A Wall Street Journal Holiday Gift Pick An elegantly written exploration of the cutting edge science of the strangest and most remarkable creatures on our planet by a leading marine biologist Hundred-year-old giant clams, coral kingdoms that rival human cities, and...

A finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award The gripping story of the most important overlooked commodity in the world--sand--and the crucial role it plays in our lives. After water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other--even more than...

From the author of New York Times bestseller The New New Deal, a groundbreaking piece of reportage from the trenches of the next climate war: the fight to fix our food system. Humanity has cleared a land mass the size of Asia plus Europe to grow food, and our food system generates a third of our...

A sweeping, lyrical debut about the love and longing between humanity and the earth itself, by a major new literary talent from India “A marvel of magical realism.”—O: The Oprah Magazine A spellbinding work of literature, Latitudes of Longing follows the interconnected lives of characters...

The grid is an accident of history and of culture, in no way intrinsic to how we produce, deliver and consume electrical power. Yet this is the system the United States ended up with, a jerry-built structure now so rickety and near collapse that a strong wind or a hot day can bring it to a grinding halt. The grid is now under threat from a new source: renewable and variable energy, which puts stress on its logics as much as its components.

An intimate and revelatory dive into the world of the beaver—the wonderfully weird rodent that has surprisingly shaped American history and may save its ecological future. From award-winning writer Leila Philip, Beaverland is a masterful work of narrative science writing, a book that...