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lindsayholladay's review against another edition
3.0
While I enjoyed some of the chapters, especially the early narrative ones, this book overall felt disjointed, sterile, and NOT about beasts. I understand the the author herself admitted from the start that the conservation movement is a fraught, imperfect institution mostly made up of white males, but really? We couldn’t find a single conservationist of color (spoiler: until the VERY final chapter) or even a woman who deserved an entire chapter in this whiplash-inducing march through history? I really wanted to learn a lot but was left more confused by the jumping back and forth in time, the relentless name-dropping, and the total lack of actual beloved beasts.
smokeyshouse's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
A fascinating look at the history of environmental movements and the people who shaped it and moved it forward. At some places the writing was dry; I wish she had explored some points more (e.g. CRISPR).
aalayna_green's review against another edition
2.0
I was initially really excited about this book, but found the significant lack in depth pertaining to the efforts of Indigenous people and the gloss over colonization, appalling.
dylanblok's review against another edition
A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. - Aldo Leopold
The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction. - Rachel Carson
Conservation is, I think (echoing my intellectual precursors above), a noble and ethical thing, and I might be forgiven for assuming that its founders and its history would be similar (i.e. noble, ethical). In reality, as this eye-opening book demonstrates, no such generalizations can be made. As Nijhuis herself says, “The story of modern species conservation is full of people who did the wrong things for the right reasons, and the right things for the wrong reasons.”
One of these "wrong reasons" that pops up again and again in the history of conservation is the reason of "being a racist." From the preservation of actually-endangered bison acting as some sort of stand in to the preservation of the allegedly-endangered archetypical white outdoorsman, to prominent environmentalist William Temple Hornaday exhibiting a Mbuti man at the Bronx Zoo, to the fact that so many conservationists were eugenicists. It was both fascinating and horrifying to learn about this aspect of conservation history.
And while you have the modern conservation movement being largely started by rich men so that they could keep hunting the animals that they wanted to, there are also stories like that of Rachel Carson taking on Big Pesticide, or of citizens of developing nations forging out their own paths to conservation in the wake of colonialism. Nijhuis does a really good job of highlighting the contradictions that make up the story of conservationism by focusing on its diverse cast of characters, each with their own contradictions.
I really liked this book, and I think you would too. :)
The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction. - Rachel Carson
Conservation is, I think (echoing my intellectual precursors above), a noble and ethical thing, and I might be forgiven for assuming that its founders and its history would be similar (i.e. noble, ethical). In reality, as this eye-opening book demonstrates, no such generalizations can be made. As Nijhuis herself says, “The story of modern species conservation is full of people who did the wrong things for the right reasons, and the right things for the wrong reasons.”
One of these "wrong reasons" that pops up again and again in the history of conservation is the reason of "being a racist." From the preservation of actually-endangered bison acting as some sort of stand in to the preservation of the allegedly-endangered archetypical white outdoorsman, to prominent environmentalist William Temple Hornaday exhibiting a Mbuti man at the Bronx Zoo, to the fact that so many conservationists were eugenicists. It was both fascinating and horrifying to learn about this aspect of conservation history.
And while you have the modern conservation movement being largely started by rich men so that they could keep hunting the animals that they wanted to, there are also stories like that of Rachel Carson taking on Big Pesticide, or of citizens of developing nations forging out their own paths to conservation in the wake of colonialism. Nijhuis does a really good job of highlighting the contradictions that make up the story of conservationism by focusing on its diverse cast of characters, each with their own contradictions.
I really liked this book, and I think you would too. :)
katsreads's review against another edition
I’m so bad at nonfiction :/ had to return to library as well
paperknotbooks's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Read for BookTube Prize.