Silent Spring Revisited

American scientist and author Rachel Carson is said to have sparked the modern day environmental movement with the publication of Silent Spring in 1962. She made vivid the prospect of life without birdsong. But has her warning been heeded? Fifty years on, Conor Mark Jameson reflects on the growth of environmentalism since Silent Spring was published. His revealing and engaging tale plots milestone events in conservation, popular culture and political history in the British Isles and beyond, tracing a path through the half century since 'zero hour', 1962. Around this he weaves his own observations and touching personal experiences, seeking to answer the question: what happened to the birds, and birdsong, and why does it matter?

Table of Contents:
Prologue Introduction The Sixties The Seventies The Eighties The Nineties The 21st Century Postscript Acknowledgements Further reading Index

About the Author :
Conor Mark Jameson has written for The Guardian, BBC Wildlife, The Ecologist, Africa Geographic, New Zealand's Wilderness magazine, Birdwatch and Birdwatching magazines and has been a scriptwriter for the BBC Natural History Unit. He is a columnist and feature writer for Birds magazine, and has worked in conservation for 20 years, in the UK and abroad. He was born in Uganda to Irish parents, brought up in Scotland, and now lives in England. He lives in a village an hour north of London, with a garden that Google Earth indicates may be reverting to woodland.

Review :
Jameson... has skillfully stiched together a narrative that reveals the highs and lows of conservation, and will, I am sure, convince many that the good fight is still worth it. A clear and concise historical overview of the failures and successes of the conservation movement since the 1960s; and it will rightly find a place on many a conservationist's bookshelf. In Silent Spring Revisited, Conor Mark Jameson's vividly told, beautifully written account of the environmentalist movement of the last fifty years and his own involvement in it, the author takes his place among the pre-eminent nature writers of our times. His clear, vivid writing skillfully weaves political and cultural history, personal observation and passionate advocacy for the conservation of our diminishing wildlife to create a book that will endure in the annals of natural history. Your book was riveting. It gave rise to several different emotions within me, Sadness/anger/despair/frustration/enthusiasm. Wonderfully written, intersperced with humour. Factual - it must have taken you forever to do the research. Cracking good stuff and needed to be said. All you need to do now is to get everyone who matters to read it.