Reviews

They lie down in front of bulldozers, drive spikes into trees marked for logging, practice ``ecotage'' (damaging equipment)--all in the name of preserving wilderness. Mannes, a law student at UC Berkeley and a member of the ecology group Earth First!, here offers a spirited defense of radical environmentalism. He charges that mainstream environmental groups see our relationship with nature only in utilitarian terms, that they have become too conservative. Earth First! is committed to the belief that the natural world should be preserved for its own sake , not for any real or imagined benefit to humanity. Mannes looks at the Green movement in Europe and other single-issue radical organizations such as Sea Shepherd and Animal Rights; discusses ``deep ecology'' and ecotage, noting that radicals aim to harrass more than obstruct; and makes a plausible case for biocentrism instead of anthropocentrism. Readers interested in preserving our environment will find the book very much worth their time. (June)

The end is at hand, declares Manes, and radical measures are needed to avoid an ecological disaster. He decries industrial society's assault on the natural world and lionizes those, such as the group Earth First! (of which Manes is a member), who are taking direct action to halt these incursions. The acts Manes admiringly recounts include scuttling whaling vessels, destroying bulldozers, and driving spikes into trees slated to be cut. Even mainstream environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society, are objects of his scorn, because of the timidity of their positions and recommendations. This is well-written, riveting, angry work. You do not need to agree with all of Manes's assertions to find his book provocative and challenging. Recommended for most collections.-- Randy Dykhuis, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio