cover image The Earth First! Reader: Ten Years of Radical Environmentalism

The Earth First! Reader: Ten Years of Radical Environmentalism

. Peregrine Smith Books, $14.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-87905-387-1

Earth First! was this past decade's most controversial environmental group, dedicated to direct action, including sabotage of whaling ships and logging equipment. The writings in this anthology, drawn from the Earth First! Journal by managing editor Davis, reflect the passionate depth of the group's members to the environmental cause. Unfortunately, the commitment doesn't always make for compelling reading. Often, in their analysis of the depredations of government and corporations, the contributors seem to find the enemy everywhere--the Forest Service and other federal bureaucracies, the lumber, mining, paper and fishing industries, even other environmental groups that lack EF's zeal--and the tone waxes shrill. The pieces on specific actions are somewhat dated. ``Ecosystems and Their Members'' is by far the most useful chapter, illuminating the nuts-and-bolts workings of various embattled environments, with a particular concern for forest lands in the western and southeastern U.S. The book closes with a farewell from wilderness activist Nancy Morton and founder Dave Foreman (co-editor of Eco defense: A Field Guide to Monkey wrench ing ), detailing the cause of the political split that sundered Earth First! in 1990. (Sept.)