A worthy examination of this global phenomenon.
   --J. H. Hunter, Choice

Common to all modern nations is the tendency to rely on large-scale manipulations of nature to achieve progress: big dams for irrigation and hydroelectricity, industrialized farming and commercial production, nuclear power, and automobiles. According to Josephson, such technologies typically create as many problems as they solve, especially those related to environmental and social inequalities. These problems are evident locally, where citizens often compete with corporations and political elites for control of resources. They appear globally as well, where wealthy industrialized nations are able to enjoy better environmental quality in part by relying on less developed countries to absorb their pollution and resource demands. Ultimately, Josephson's analysis challenges readers to question the wisdom of this kind of progress, upon which nearly every nation in the twenty-first century has come to rely.
   --Gregory Summers, Environmental History

Paul R. Josephson is Chairman for the International Studies Program at Colby College. His books include Industrialized Nature and Red Atom.