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Silent Spring  
Author: Rachel Carson
ISBN: 0618249060
Format:
Publish Date:
 
     
     
   Book Review
First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. "Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for Time"s 100 Most Influential People of the Century). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson"s watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson"s courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964.

Silent Spring

FROM OUR EDITORS

Three reasons to read Silent Spring: 1. This book, first published in 1962, launched the modern environmental movement. It also earned Carson, a modest marine biologist, a slot on Time's 100 Most Influential People of the Century list. 2. It's a great read. Calling Silent Spring "well crafted, fearless and succinct," Peter Matthiessen said of its author: "Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters." 3. Carson's lucid, almost lyrical expose of the indiscriminate use of pesticides is still relevant.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. 'silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters' (Peter Matthiessen, for Time's 100 Most Influential People of the Century). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson's watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson's courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964.