Prairie Dreams: A Human and Natural History of North America's Great Plains
Anyone who has driven across the American ‘world of grass’ in Kansas or Oaklahoma will have been awestruck at the extent of even the modern day Great Plains, and envious of those pioneers who managed to see this breathtaking habitat before it was parcelled up by European colonisers.
Similarly impressed by the ‘big sky’ and landscape was Andy Stoddart, and the end result was the writing of this ambitious book, detailing the history and effects of the European settlement of the grasslands of America. Birds are incidental to the story, though add maudlin colour as declines and extinctions, particularly that of the Eskimo Curlew, are related. Poignant locations, historical ironies and readable detail hold one’s interest throughout, as colonial conquerors ransack the natural wealth of lowland North America.
This was all done under a belief in the innate God-given right to exploit the new land built on the foundation of religion and the absolute conviction in the superiority of European civilisation, used often as justification for human greed and short-sightedness. The last few chapters describe the causes and legacy of the Depression Dust Bowl and the awakening of the ecological mind in the latter half of the last century.
The writing carries the book on its own, but it is a shame that there aren’t plates or photographs to illustrate the work. It is privately published but certainly well written and edited to be worthy of a large publishing house. Though less poetic than Peter Matthiessen and Barry Lopez Jr, fans of those authors will find much to enjoy here. Readers will find they own an inspiring and insightful volume that will encourage them to visit the Great Plains themselves.
• Prairie Dreams: a Human and Natural History of North America’s Great Plains by Andrew Stoddart (privately published, 2011).
• 262 pages.
• ISBN 9781456590185. Pbk, £17.99.
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