The Unnatural History of the Sea - Softcover

Callum Roberts

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1597265772 ISBN 13: 9781597265775

Publisher: Island Press, 2009

Synopsis

Rare Book

About this title

Review:

"Thank you, Callum Roberts, for your riveting, eloquent, compelling and urgently important saga of what may be the greatest environmental tragedy of our time: the relentless, wholesale extraction of ocean wildlife globally. Thank you, too, for inspiring hope that we still have a chance to reverse the disastrous decline of the ocean, and thus secure our own future, as well as that of fish, whales and clams."--Sylvia Earle "Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society "

"Out of sight, out of mind--the wholesale destruction of marine life under the waves by an increasingly rapacious fishing industry has largely gone unnoticed. This eloquent and inspiring book not only reveals the true extent of this loss but also tells of the oceans' amazing powers of regeneration. A long-time advocate for setting aside large areas of ocean as marine reserves and allowing nature to do her own thing, Professor Roberts makes the case crystal clear as to why politicians and society as a whole must act now if we are to save our oceans and the beauty and the bounty they contain."--Richard Page "Greenpeace "

"Oceans seem vast and untrammeled, but we have wrecked their living resources from offshore to the depths and to the limits of Antarctic ice. Callum Roberts tells this story with passion and elegance, and shows us what we must do to get our marine life back."--Stuart Pimm "winner of the 2006 Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences "

"[Callum] Roberts's book is invaluable, not to mention deeply disturbing."--Jonathan Yardley's 10 best books of the year, "The Washington Post Book World"

"This eloquent book, rendered with clarity and grace, is a true tale of tragedy. Callum Roberts summarizes the whole sweep of historical time from first European discovery of unimagined living ocean riches to unimaginable depletion and impoverishment of the sea. Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel. And only by seeing what was can we hope to see what should be, and what must be restored."--Carl Safina "author of Song for the Blue Ocean and Voyage of the Turtle "

"His impressive book, replete with quotations from the reports of early explorers, merchants and travelers describing seas teeming with life that's unimaginable today, is a vivid reminder of what we've lost and a plea to save what is left and help the sea recover some of its earlier bounty."--Publishers Weekly

"Passionate and immensely important book . . . ."--The Washington Post

"Well-documented and objective study of the history of fishing and overfishing since the 11th century...." --Library Journal

"So fascinating, so well-written, so rich with detail.... I couldn't put this book down." --Philadelphia Inquirer

"The accounts presented in The Unnatural History of the Sea provide compelling comparison benchmarks and expose the harm done by mankind's continued view of wildlife solely as commodity." --Honolulu Advertiser

Book Description:

Written by a world authority on marine conservation. Highly topical - Constant item in the news, and a large concern for much of the public. Uses involving stories of individuals as an example of broader trends, thus making history both exciting and relevant to our current political and social climate.

About this edition

• Publisher: Island Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1597265772
• ISBN 13: 9781597265775
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 464