Sunday, August 25, 2019

Rightful Heritage by Douglas Brinkley


This book is both an exhaustive examination of the conservation movement in the USA, and a biography of FDR.  I have always been a fan of FDR but had no idea that he was a lifetime conservationist. It tells the story of the farsighted people who made possible our national parks, national monuments, many state parks, national seashores, and wildlife refuges. It is a fascinating account of land preservation during the FDR years of the Great Depression and World War II, of FDR's love of trees and 
the Hudson River Valley, and of the people who helped to make it happen. The book also notes the understandable for the time lapses in judgment or knowledge that actually harmed the environment. 
FDR and his team of New Dealers were able to get millions of dollars granted for 
conservation projects even in the midst of fighting both the Great Depression and World War II.
This book is the second in a planned trilogy by Brinkley on the conservation movement in American history. The first being Wilderness Warrior about Theodore Roosevelt’s contribution to the history of American conservationism.  I can hardly wait for the third volume to come out. 

2 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello,

I am thankful for presidents who were conservationists. I love our national parks. Great review and book! Enjoy your day, wishing you a great new week ahead!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

At Mt Rushmore, we learned that TR was included because of his support for National Parks and conservation ... I did not at that time know that about him, so I read a biography. Today, from your post I learn that FDR was also a conservationist ( I did already know lots of other good things about the second Roosevelt ))... just not that fact. These books sound good ... is anyone asking the horde of Democrat candidates about their stand on the environmentandconservation ? Any of them would be better than what we have.