This item is not eligible for Amazon Prime, but millions of other items are. Join Amazon Prime today. Already a member? Sign in.
Plundering Paradise and over 130,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

17 used & new from $3.86
See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Tell a Friend
Plundering Paradise: The Hand of Man on the Galapagos Islands
 
 
Start reading Plundering Paradise on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

Plundering Paradise: The Hand of Man on the Galapagos Islands (Hardcover)

by Michael D'orso (Author) "The midwinter sun has just begun to climb above the flat, blue Pacific, and already the cobbled pavers that form the streets of Puerto Ayora..." (more)
Key Phrases: bunker fuel, Park Service, Puerto Ayora, San Cristobal (more...)
4.2 out of 5 stars  (4 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


17 used & new available from $3.86
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Kindle Edition (Kindle Book) $8.76
Paperback (Bargain Price) 14 used & new from $11.01
Paperback 6 used & new from $6.40
School & Library Binding Order it used!
 
   

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner

4.4 out of 5 stars (72)  $10.17
Galapagos: A Natural History

Galapagos: A Natural History by Michael H. Jackson

5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  $19.00
Evolution's Workshop: God and Science on the Galápagos Islands

Evolution's Workshop: God and Science on the Galápagos Islands by Edward J. Larson

Wildlife of the Galapagos (Princeton Illustrated Checklists)

Wildlife of the Galapagos (Princeton Illustrated Checklists) by Julian Fitter

5.0 out of 5 stars (7)  $13.57
Birds, Mammals, and Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands: An Identification Guide, 2nd Edition

Birds, Mammals, and Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands: An Identification Guide, 2nd Edition by Andy Swash

4.9 out of 5 stars (10)  $24.30
Explore similar items : Books (46) Movies & TV (3)

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
When Charles Darwin first set foot on the Gal pagos Islands in 1831, he was captivated by an Eden untouched by man. But when D'Orso (Like Judgment Day) arrived on the scene in 1999, it was a different species all together that had brought him and that he found worthy of Darwin-like study-man. D'Orso explains that 3% of the Gal pagos Islands are occupied by an exponentially growing population of people whose migration to the islands began in the early 20th century with a few eccentric Norwegian settlers. The islands have more than 20,000 inhabitants, a motley crew of nationalities ranging from German to Ecuadorean, who call the Gal pagos both a refuge and a home. Predictably, these inhabitants bring inevitable dangers to the idyllic nature of the region-poaching, pollution, overfishing, crowding, ecotourism and the political warfare that will define the islands' future. With rich, witty prose as colorful as the characters he describes, D'Orso reveals the human side of the Gal pagos, including the owner of the Gal pagos Hotel, Jack Nelson, an American who has lived there since 1967; Christy Gallardo, an American who visited the island as a tourist and fell in love with and married an Ecuadorean man; and Mary Rodriguez, the wife of a Gal pagan farmer who in 1992 opened the first and only "gentlemen's club" called Quatro y Media. This is a stellar study of the alchemy of man and nature.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The isolated Galapagos Islands, home to a unique ecosystem, are, thanks to Charles Darwin, the epicenter of evolutionary biology, and numerous scientists have chronicled the lives of the islands' giant tortoises, iguanas, and diverse bird species in his wake, but journalist D'Orso, author of Like Judgment Day (1996), is no nature freak. Instead, he spent three years researching and exploring the islands to learn about their overlooked human inhabitants. Captivating in both his lucidity and precision, D'Orso seamlessly blends island history, political reportage, ecological analysis, and vivid portraits of islanders as he traces the radical changes that are turning this once pristine natural paradise into a besieged and endangered ecological battleground where poachers, scientists, and ecotourists come into sometimes violent conflict, invasive species threaten native plants and wildlife, and corrupt Ecuadorian officials siphon off millions of tourist dollars, condemning islanders to abject poverty. By telling the stories of those who have dwelled precariously, often lawlessly, on the inhospitable Galapagos, from whalers and buccaneers to refugees, mavericks, Ecuadorians fleeing the collapsed mainland economy, and valiant Park Service officers, D'Orso brings into focus the entire spectrum of Galapagos life, a very different world from that shown in romanticized documentaries or glossy tourist brochures. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details
  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (November 26, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060193905
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060193904
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #266,643 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #32 in  Books > Travel > Latin America > South America > Ecuador & Galapagos Islands
    #92 in  Books > Outdoors & Nature > Travel > Ecotourism

    (Publishers and authors: Improve Your Sales)
  • Also Available in: Kindle Edition (Kindle Book) |  Paperback (Bargain Price) |  Paperback  |  School & Library Binding  |  All Editions