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Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis
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About This Book
A lifelong acolyte of the natural world, Annie Proulx brings her witness and research to the subject of wetlands and the vitally important role they play in preserving the environment—by storing the carbon emissions that accelerate climate change. Fens, bogs, swamps, and marine estuaries are crucial to the earth's survival, and in four illuminating parts, Proulx documents their systemic destruction in pursuit of profit. In a vivid and revelatory journey through history, Proulx describes the fens of 16th-century England, Canada's Hudson Bay lowlands, Russia's Great Vasyugan Mire, and America's Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. She introduces the early explorers who launched the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and writes of the diseases spawned in the wetlands—the Ague, malaria, Marsh Fever. A sobering look at the degradation of wetlands over centuries and the serious ecological consequences, this is "an unforgettable and unflinching tour of past and present, fixed on a subject that could not be more important" (Bill McKibben). "A stark but beautifully written Silent Spring –style warning from one of our greatest novelists." — The Christian Science Monitor
Reviews
"This resonant ode to a planet in peril is tough to forget."
"An eloquent, engaged argument for the preservation of a small and damp yet essential part of the planet."
"One of Proulx's chapters is called 'Discursive Thoughts on Wetlands,' which sums up her approach."
"perhaps what's most interesting about the book is her refusal to engage in the usual left versus right political debate ..."
"Rather, her focus is on human relationships with wetlands, including a fascinating account of northern Europe's Iron-age bog bodies."
"National Book Award– and Pulitzer Prize–winning Proulx's attunement to the intricacies and vulnerabilities of nature and humankind's reckless exploitation of the living world shapes her celebrated fiction ..."
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