The Gulf
When painter Winslow Homer first sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, he was struck by its special kind of providence Indeed, the Gulf presented itself as America s sea bound by geography, culture, and tradition to the national experience and yet, there has never been a comprehensive history of the Gulf until now And so, in this rich and original work that explores the Gulf through our human connection with the sea, environmental historian Jack E Davis finally places this exceptional region into the American mythos in a sweeping history that extends from the Pleistocene age to the twenty first century.Significant beyond tragic oil spills and hurricanes, the Gulf has historically been one of the world s most bounteous marine environments, supporting human life for millennia Davis starts from the premise that nature lies at the center of human existence, and takes readers on a compelling and, at times, wrenching journey from the Florida Keys to the Texas Rio Grande, along marshy shorelines and majestic estuarine bays, profoundly beautiful and life giving, though fated to exploitation by esurient oil men and real estate developers.Rich in vivid, previously untold stories, The Gulf tells the larger narrative of the American Sea from the sportfish that brought the earliest tourists to Gulf shores to Hollywood s engagement with the first offshore oil wells as it inspired and empowered, sometimes to its own detriment, the ethnically diverse groups of a growing nation Davis pageant of historical characters is vast, including the presidents who directed western expansion toward its shores, the New England fishers who introduced their own distinct skills to the region, and the industries and big agriculture that sent their contamination downstream into the estuarine wonderland Nor does Davis neglect the colorfully idiosyncratic individuals the Tabasco king who devoted his life to wildlife conservation, the Texas shrimper who gave hers to clean water and public health, as well as the New York architect who hooked the big one that set the sportfishing world on fire.Ultimately, Davis reminds us that amidst the ruin, beauty awaits its return, as the Gulf is, and has always been, an ongoing story Sensitive to the imminent effects of climate change, and to the difficult task of rectifying grievous assaults of recent centuries, The Gulf suggests how a penetrating examination of a single region s history can inform the country s path ahead. 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Davis [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr What a brilliant, deeply researched, beautifully written book this is I ve lived on or near the Gulf of Mexico almost all my life, and covered environmental issues in Florida for 20 years, and still this book taught me a lot that I did not know My hat s off to University of Florida professor Jack E Davis for this stunning achievement, and highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about the Gulf or its coastline.Davis starts off the book in an unusual way, showing us how painter Winslow H What a brilliant, deeply researched, beautifully written book this is I ve lived on or near the Gulf of Mexico almost all my life, and covered environmental issues in Florida for 20 years, and still this book taught me a lot that I did not know My hat s off to University of Florida professor Jack E Davis for this stunning achievement, and highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about the Gulf or its coastline.Davis starts off the book in an unusual way, sho...I managed to procure an advanced copy of this breathtaking book and it is brilliant and important work highly academic yet completely accessible and filled with the kinds of insightful vignettes that Davis was a keen eye for This body of water defines the lives of millions of people, and here is a work that manages to capture the complexity and contrasts of an American tragedy in the making It reads like a novel a very fine novel Davis is one of the finest writers of prose in the English la I managed to procur...The Gulf of Mexico used to be a bounteous habitat of sea life and birds, but the oil industry, pollution, and overfishing have changed that, according to the author Davis is an engaging writer, but the last half of the book is a drag to get through Also, this is a book ... Gulf the Making of an American Sea 2017 is Jack E Davis s history of the Gulf of Mexico, a body of water overlooked in most histories of America s growth and of growth s consequences Davis, a professor of environmental history at the University of Florida, has written a masterpiece For those of us who live in the southwest Florida, the Gulf is an all important body of water, and Davis s history is both relevant and enlightening The book is filled with information new to many of us, and it Gulf the Making of an American Sea 2017 is Jack E Davis s history of the Gulf of Mexico, a body of water overlooked in most histories of America s growth and of growth s consequences Davis, a professor of environmental history at the University of Florida, has written a masterpiece For those of us who live in the southwest Florida, the Gulf is an all important body of water, and Davis s history is both relevant and enlightening The book is filled with information new to many of us, and it is written in an openly breezy style that pulls us into the political, commercial, and social history...Along the same lines as the Atlantic and Pacific books by Simon Winchester, this book by Jack E Davis tackles the history of the Gulf of Mexico from Aboriginal settlement, European exploration and often devastation to modern day growth, over growth and ultimately pollution.I loved the historic tales of the bounty of fish within the Gulf and the irony of European explorers starving and resorting to cannibalism as they sight to oppress the savages who had grown strong on the local catch.An Along the same lines as the Atlantic and Pacific books by Simon Winchester, this book by Jack E Davis tackles the history of the Gulf of Mexico from Aboriginal settlement, European exploration and often devastation to...This book took me forever to reada function of too many outside distractions than anything to do with this book.Davis is a Florida historian who specializes in the environmental history of the Gulf states The book covers the geology, natural history, weather, and human history of this body of water that much of America outside of the region doesn t give much of a thought Living just 130 miles from the Gulf myself, it doesn ...This is an important and challenging look at the Gulf with a particular focus on the Gulf Coast of the United States and the human impact on this body of water The Gulf offered native populations and later European invaders an unsurpassed natural bounties in its sea life, wild life and its petroleum resources As American s becamecomfortable living by the sea, the Gulf s Coast was exploited by developers who saw an opportunity to sell the landlocked middle class the dream of living in a w This is an important and challenging look at the Gulf with a particular focus on the Gulf Coast of the United States and the human impact on this bo...Choosing read this later this year.This is a well written and researched book, and I recommend it, but I didn t get as much out of the second half as I should have because a I am terrible at geography and b it s not really my subject For me it felt long and a bit repetitive, but were I as interested in ecology ... The Gulf is a lengthy work on one of the world s great natural resources Davis covers all aspects of this American sea cultural history, natural history, ecology, and destruction The history is first rate as he discusses the Gulf s exploration by Europeans and their interactions with the indigenous populations The natural history is wonderful, too, as Davis describes the birds, fish, mollusks, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals that inhabit the Gulf s varied ecological zones He concludes the The Gulf is a lengthy work on one of the world s great natural resources Davis covers all aspects of this American sea cultural history, natural history, ecology, and destruction The history is first rate as he discusses the Gulf s exploration by Europeans and their interactions with the indigenous populations The natural history is wonderful, too, as Davis describes the birds, fish, mollusks, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals that inhabit the Gulf s varied ecological zones He concludes the book with a lengthy description of how mankind has abused the Gulf, its estuaries, and the rivers that feed it This last section is not f...
- 17 June 2017 Jack E. Davis
- Hardcover
- 608 pages
- 087140866X
- Jack E. Davis
- The Gulf