Customer Reviews

Death in the Everglades: The Murder of Guy Bradley, America's First Martyr to Environmentalism (Florida History and Culture)

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I have read Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, An Illustrated History by Mr. McIver and thought that was a great book. But his newest one is even better! It is a fascinating story not only about the struggle between Walter Smith and Guy Bradley, but also about the plume trade and its major players, the Audubon Society's foundations, important people in South Florida's history who had their hands in the plume trade, and just interesting stories about "the way things were" in the late 1800s early 1900s.

He interviewed several significant historical people and their descendents, mostly in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he originally attempted to write this book. 25 years later, he has created a masterpiece. He has obtained an amazing amount of research information, and the reader will be very happy he spent time to read it.

The murder of Guy Bradley, and the subsequent failure of justice is an interesting, but in the end secondary part of this book. The strength of this narrative is the wonderful descriptions of the courageous, or perhaps desperate, settlers in a strange and extremely hostile area of South Florida. The story of the Plume hunters is an interesting historic tale, and their actions affect the South Florida and Everglades environment right up to this day.

This is a worthwhile read if you have an interest in South Florida history, or care about the type of people drawn to such a hostile environment so many years ago.

The story of Guy Bradley was one I was told by a ranger in the Everglades when I was about 11 or 12. How everything fell into place was something I had always wondered about. This book gives a lot of great history of south Florida. Being one of a rare breed I was born and raised in Central Florida so I find it somewhat of a treat to find books like this. BUY IT, YOU WILL LIKE IT!