Customer Reviews

Farewell, Promised Land: Waking from the California Dream

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It would be a shame if this seminal work on environmental destruction and the environmental movement were pigeonholed as a "California book." It is of equal interest to East Coast opinion-makers, Washington policy-makers, and all of those with an interest in environmental protection throughout the state, nation, and internationally. Thoroughly researched, it includes astonishing, little-known facts; but it is also highly accessible, written in lucid prose, blessedly jargon free, and including the telling, memorable anecdote. The photographs are stunning and will have an impact on even the casual browser - so the book will have an effect beyond "preaching to the choir." Perhaps most important, the book ends on a high note of hope, describing and lauding those environmental heroes and heroines who have made a genuine difference, one protest movement at a time.

The story of our time is, sadly, what happens to the natural world when all restraint and common sense are abandoned. California, the dream state, has taken a terrible beating in the last 150 years. Dawson and Brechin document the devastation with brilliant prose and photographs. Also included: signs of hope, people who've taken a stand to protect some areas from the onslaught.

This book beautifully chronicles the damage that has been wreaked upon the California landscape in the last cnetury and a half. Particularly interesting is the commentary about the miner ethos that has prevailed not only among miners but also among loggers, agribusinessmen, and developers, leading to the pillage of the land for the gain of a few. However, the book was also weak here when it contrasted this ethos with that in Italy which has resulted in the preservation of the countryside. It seems only fair that the weaknesses of the Italian system, including the negative impacts of a slower economy and weak central government on the people's well-being, be at least acknowledged here as well. However, all in all the book is still very worthwhile. I will now never be able to forget what this state might have been.

This book taught me a great deal about the history and culture of California and it's environmental demise. As a landscape architect I found it particularly interesting the history of the landscape of California.

Enjoyable read that works well as a large picture book. For those unfamiliar with the history of the development of California this would be a good start. Timely and accurate overview of the destruction of natural California.

A careful but rather biased account of California's environmental disasters, this book will make the thoughtful reader feel depressed, because it offers no solution to any of the problems it exposes.