Greenpeace: How a Group of Journalists, Ecologists and Visionaries Changed the World

Greenpeace is one of the most important environmental groups and this book illustrates why. It's a history of the triumphs and conflicts that plagued the organization since its inception. Initially I was shocked at how uncoordinated Greenpeace seemed to be, but I respect the author for openly revealing these deficiencies. The organization was forced to evolve in the tactics they used, as they constantly expanded to fight new nuclear and environmental threats. The bulk of the book concerns the fight to prevent testing of nuclear weapons, whaling (especially by the Russians and Japanese) and the Canadian seal hunt. Time after time it's demonstrated that the worse enemy to the environment are governments, as they lie to people, attempt cover-ups (the UK would dispose of nuclear waste in the ocean and failed to inform the public) and use laws to thwart the efforts of the ecologists. One example is the Canadian government using the 'Seal Protection Act' to arrest protestors protecting seals against the slaughter. If someone tried to prevent a seal from being clubbed to death and happened to touch the seal, they would be arrested. Another important argument is how the bulk of a population supports environmental organizations until it involves something that is transpiring in their own backyard. Donations to the Canadian Greenpeace decreased exponentially once Greenpeace attempted to curb the Canadian seal hunt. The same people who supported them in the past bashed them. When local jobs are at stake people are willing to overlook animal cruelty and environmental damage. Overall, a great read and highly recommended.

I loved this book! The pace never dropped into a boggy, dry account but integrated the adventure of being on board a ship chasing whalers with the political history of the group. The issues are explained, in case you missed out on the 1940 to 1980 time period, as I did. Very educational, but never boring. Wonderful!

Please consider reading this book. It has changed many people in their views on environmental policy and activism. it has a good analysis and report on how Greenpeace has affected our lives and the benefits of their active roles. Buy it. Its certainly worth the price. I encourage you to also partake in any environmental activism. Environmental information can be found on Greenpeace's website. www.greenpeace.org

This book is a dazzling feat of impassioned storytelling. Weyler conjures the feel of an entire era -- sketching the disparate ideas, the hair-raising events, and the motley crew of inspired eccentrics who precipitated a wild metamorphosis in the collective mindscape. Indeed, his evocation of the visionary fire of these activists -- recounting their personal confusions along with their crazy courage on behalf of a more-than-human world -- may serve as a wake-up jolt to an environmental movement that has today become painfully complacent. And it's a damn good yarn, to boot."

I love the fact that this book was printed on forest friendly paper. If more books were made like this we'd have more homes for the wild animals.