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cassieferri's review against another edition
5.0
Beloved Beasts weaves pivotal conservation stories together to create a heartbreakingly beautiful and tragic narrative explaining the evolution of conservation as we know it today. Needless to say, I loved absolutely every second of this book.
We typically learn about the people featured in the book (like Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Julian Huxley, and Rosalie Edge) as disjointed figures in a broader history of the natural sciences. Nijhuis challenges this norm by breathing life into the featured naturalists and depicting each story as a moving piece in an interconnected, ongoing epic that we, too, are a part of.
This book contains everything necessary to make it a powerful, modern, and culturally aware recounting of conservation history. It is well-researched and humorous, never hesitant to document the flaws of past conservationists (ex. racism, sexism, eugenics), and is as uplifting as it is heartbreaking at times.
If this book doesn't revitalize your sense of duty to keep fighting the centuries-long battle to protect the natural world, then nothing will. A must-read for nature-lovers and ecologists.
We typically learn about the people featured in the book (like Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Julian Huxley, and Rosalie Edge) as disjointed figures in a broader history of the natural sciences. Nijhuis challenges this norm by breathing life into the featured naturalists and depicting each story as a moving piece in an interconnected, ongoing epic that we, too, are a part of.
This book contains everything necessary to make it a powerful, modern, and culturally aware recounting of conservation history. It is well-researched and humorous, never hesitant to document the flaws of past conservationists (ex. racism, sexism, eugenics), and is as uplifting as it is heartbreaking at times.
If this book doesn't revitalize your sense of duty to keep fighting the centuries-long battle to protect the natural world, then nothing will. A must-read for nature-lovers and ecologists.
rachelwalexander's review against another edition
5.0
A thoroughly researched and compellingly written history of the western conservation movement, full of fascinating tidbits along with the big picture history. The organization of the book - roughly chronological but with each chapter focused on a distinct issue or era of the movement - made it easy to follow, and Nijhuis' writing, as always, is a pleasure to read. I appreciated the inclusion of figures like Elinor Ostrom who challenge some of the commonly-held colonialist ideas that too often underlie environmental movements, like the Tragedy of th Commons. That said, I felt like the engagement with the racism and colonialism of conservation politics could have been deeper or more conclusive. She acknowledges the history and notes where it shaped major thinkers, but the story is still told from an almost entirely western perspective. Even the chapter on engaging people who subsist off east African savannas, for example, centers American and European figures in that movement, and there's little voice given to residents there or in other parts of the world about homegrown approaches to conservation. That left some of the engagement with conservation's often fraught politics and racism feeling a little shallow.
travkurtz's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the best books detailing the history of the conservation movement that I have ever read. The author does an excellent job of drawing a clear line from the beginning of the movement to present day through the stories of species and the people working to save them.
jvillar3's review against another edition
5.0
* I received an audio ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *
Beloved Beasts is a somewhat in-depth exploration of the field of conservation and the key players who contributed to its shaping. We follow these players - both notable and more obscure - as they tackle conservation issues while exploring their personal agendas that fueled their actions. Nijhuis provides a very personal view into the psyche of these people and does not shy away from pointing out their racist, nationalist and straight up hypocritical principles. As a grad student studying conservation, this is something I have never seen tackled in other books on the birth of conservation and it brings some much needed and valuable insight to how the field has been shaped and ways in which we need to reframe it moving forward. Furthermore, by using case studies of well known and loved animals such as bison and rhinos, Nijhuis keeps the reader engaged and makes this book accessible and enjoyable for the masses. By far my favorite chapter was about community conservation and how we can decolonize the field while giving peoples the power to support their communities and also their animal neighbors. It also talks about complex issues such as trophy hunting that outsiders pretty unanimously oppose (myself included) yet the community and the animals can actually benefit from. It really made me step back and rethink my assumptions about some conservation issues that are clearly not as straightforward as they first seem.
Overall, I enjoyed the narrator and I think she did a great job. The author clearly did her research and brought to light many details about the field of conservation that I believe are important in framing where we go from here. Much of this book is depressing but I think there are also moments of hope in learning about the people and organizations tackling conservation and extinction. However, it is also clear that a few devoted individuals cannot do it alone and this book certainly exposed some of the cracks in our fundamental views on conservation.
Beloved Beasts is a somewhat in-depth exploration of the field of conservation and the key players who contributed to its shaping. We follow these players - both notable and more obscure - as they tackle conservation issues while exploring their personal agendas that fueled their actions. Nijhuis provides a very personal view into the psyche of these people and does not shy away from pointing out their racist, nationalist and straight up hypocritical principles. As a grad student studying conservation, this is something I have never seen tackled in other books on the birth of conservation and it brings some much needed and valuable insight to how the field has been shaped and ways in which we need to reframe it moving forward. Furthermore, by using case studies of well known and loved animals such as bison and rhinos, Nijhuis keeps the reader engaged and makes this book accessible and enjoyable for the masses. By far my favorite chapter was about community conservation and how we can decolonize the field while giving peoples the power to support their communities and also their animal neighbors. It also talks about complex issues such as trophy hunting that outsiders pretty unanimously oppose (myself included) yet the community and the animals can actually benefit from. It really made me step back and rethink my assumptions about some conservation issues that are clearly not as straightforward as they first seem.
Overall, I enjoyed the narrator and I think she did a great job. The author clearly did her research and brought to light many details about the field of conservation that I believe are important in framing where we go from here. Much of this book is depressing but I think there are also moments of hope in learning about the people and organizations tackling conservation and extinction. However, it is also clear that a few devoted individuals cannot do it alone and this book certainly exposed some of the cracks in our fundamental views on conservation.
ackopec's review
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Glad the author didn’t shy away from some of the racist roots of conservation.
compostman's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Great informative read on the history of the conservation movement. Lots of info on the human side of conservation.
kirander's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent read to follow the Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. This book emphasizes the species saved rather than lost, though it still mentions the many species that have gone extinct due to humanity. Michelle, however, writes with the goal of providing hope. Hope that humanity can still stop the mass extinction in progress with examples of the endangered species that have been saved by the extraordinary efforts of ordinary humans. While the negatives are discussed, it’s written to provide motivation to its readers. Highly recommend