Losing Eden - (Environment and Region in the American West) by Sara Dant (Paperback)

About the Book

Losing Eden traces the critical role the natural environment has played in the history and development of the American West by illustrating the many ways it both shapes and is shaped by the people who live there.

Book Synopsis

Named an American Scientist Recommended Read

Historical narratives often concentrate on wars and politics while omitting the central role and influence of the physical stage on which history is carried out. In Losing Eden award-winning historian Sara Dant debunks the myth of the American West as "Eden" and instead embraces a more realistic and complex understanding of a region that has been inhabited and altered by people for tens of thousands of years.

In this lively narrative Dant discusses the key events and topics in the environmental history of the American West, from the Beringia migration, Columbian Exchange, and federal territorial acquisition to post-World War II expansion, resource exploitation, and current climate change issues. Losing Eden is structured around three important themes: balancing economic success and ecological destruction, creating and protecting public lands, and achieving sustainability.

This revised and updated edition incorporates the latest science and thinking. It also features a new chapter on climate change in the American West, a larger reflection on the region's multicultural history, updated current events, expanded and diversified suggested readings, along with new maps and illustrations. Cohesive and compelling, Losing Eden recognizes the central role of the natural world in the history of the American West and provides important analysis on the continually evolving relationship between the land and its inhabitants.

From the Back Cover

Historical narratives often concentrate on wars and politics while leaving out the central role and influence of the physical stage on which history is carried out. In Losing Eden, expert scholar and professor, Sara Dant, traces the environmental history and development of the American West and explains how the land has shaped and been shaped by the people who live there.

Review Quotes

"Read Losing Eden as soon as you can. Then, re-read it. Assign it to students, use it in planning policies, and bring it on Western adventures. The writing is that good; the history is that clear, and the stakes are that high."--David D. Vail, Chronicles of Oklahoma

"Compelling and accessible to a broad audience. . . . [Demonstrates] why understanding the environmental history of the US West is as pressing now as ever."--Jacey Anderson, H-Environment

"A clarion call for sustainability."--Kim Jackson, Nevada Historical Quarterly

"An updated version of the original 2017 publication, Losing Eden is a classic in the environmental history of the American West."--Harlan Hague, Roundup Magazine

"In writing such an accessible book for general readers and scholars alike, Dant successfully manages to create a space for everyone to feel a sense of responsibility for the future of the West."--Georgianna Karahalis, Annals of Wyoming

"[Dant] is especially skilled at presenting complex, sometimes controversial topics in an engaging and fun-to-learn manner."--Ed Roberson, mountainandprairie.com

"Everyone should take a look at Sara Dant's book Losing Eden. It's a history of something bigger than us and an essential read for anyone who cares about the past and future American West."--Ken Burns, filmmaker

"This updated and revised edition of the book brings more multicultural history, incorporates current events, and has a new chapter on climate change, along with new maps and illustrations."--Jaime Herndon, American Scientist-- (7/12/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"This is a penetrating take on the complicated ways that humans impact their environs."--Publishers Weekly

"Sara Dant has created something seemingly unattainable: a one-volume book--full of incisive analysis, wrapped in unforgettable storytelling--that covers the deep environmental history of the American West from twenty-five thousand years ago to today. She delivers an important cautionary tale about the relationship between people and nature, always asking a simple question: 'At what cost?' I learned something on every page."--Dayton Duncan, author of The National Parks: America's Best Idea

About the Author

Sara Dant is an award-winning writer, historian, and Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Weber State University. She is the coauthor of the two-volume Encyclopedia of American National Parks. Tom S. Udall is a former United States senator, ambassador, and representative of New Mexico who has been a strong advocate for renewable energy, the environment, and conservation efforts.