The Environmentalist's Bookshelf: A Guide to the Best Books

Climatic changes. Tropical deforestation. Toxic contamination of food and water. Citizens concerned about the fate of the planet are eager to become active and informed on these and other environmental issues. The Environmentalist's Bookshelf: A Guide to the Best Books lists and describes the 500 best books on nature and the environment as determined by the recommendations of over 200 environmental leaders from around the world. Scientists, educators, authors, activists, and government officials, including representatives from 150 environmental groups and editors from 15 environmental journals and magazines, share their personal responses to the environmental books that have most influenced their thinking and actions. Classics by Aldo Leopold, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, and Edward Abbey, and newer works by Wendell Berry, William Cronon, Marc Reisner, Vandana Shiva, and Donald Worster are among those reviewed by author Robert Merideth and his roster of experts. This guide includes: The Environmentalist's Bookshelf list of the top 40 books deemed essential to any environmentalist's library; detailed descriptions of the 100 core, 250 strongly recommended, and 150 further recommended books; and a biographical listing of survey respondents, a virtual who's who in the field of nature and the environment. For professionals, students, and anyone concerned about environmental issues, The Environmentalist's Bookshelf is an invaluable tool for building an ecologically sound library.

To compile this guide to the 500 "best books" on the environment, the author sent out questionnaires to individuals connected with or concerned about this topic. He received 236 responses from prominent educators, scientists, authors, activists, and government officials. Based upon these responses, he selected and ranked items for this list.

The guide is divided into four parts: the "Top 40 Books," "100 Core Books," 250 "Strongly Recommended Books," and 150 "Other Recommended Books." Brief biographies of the respondents to the questionnaire are followed by an essay on other bibliographies on the environment, as well as author, title, and subject indexes.

The books listed were published from the turn of the century to 1990. The book selected by the largest number of respondents is Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac. Most titles are trade books that have a wide readership (e.g., Silent Spring, Small Is Beautiful, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek), but some university press and small press titles, government publications, and even a Dr. Seuss book are listed. All entries include the full bibliographic citation and an annotation with either a brief summary of the author's viewpoint or a quotation from several respondents about why they think the book is important. Annotations often cite one or two additional recommended related works.

Bookshelf is a convenient item for academic and public libraries. Librarians will use it to evaluate their collections and for readers'-advisory work.