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The Everglades: River of Grass by Marjory…
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The Everglades: River of Grass (original 1947; edition 1997)

by Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Author)

Series: Rivers of America (33)

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418959,732 (4.18)22
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Before 1947, when Marjory Stoneman Douglas named The Everglades a "river of grass," most people considered the area worthless. She brought the world's attention to the need to preserve The Everglades. In the Afterword, Michael Grunwald tells us what has happened to them since then. Grunwald points out that in 1947 the government was in the midst of establishing the Everglades National Park and turning loose the Army Corps of Engineers to control floodsâ??both of which seemed like saviors for the Glades. But neither turned out to be the answer. Working from the research he did for his book, The Swamp, Grunwald offers an account of what went wrong and the many attempts to fix it, beginning with Save Our Everglades, which Douglas declared was "not nearly enough." Grunwald then lays out the intricacies (and inanities) of the more recent and ongoing CERP, the hugely expensive Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.… (more)

Member:GalsGuidetotheGalaxy
Title:The Everglades: River of Grass
Authors:Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Author)
Info:Pineapple Press (1997), Edition: Anniversary, 480 pages
Collections:Your library
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Tags:Expert Gals, Environment

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The Everglades: River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1947)

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» See also 22 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 9 (next | show all)
I visited the Everglades about a year and a half ago, and picked this book up in a visitor's center there after repeatedly hearing it, and its author, mentioned as being extremely influential in the history of the Everglades and in Everglades conservation efforts. I have to say, it's not at all what I was expecting. It does start out with a chapter on the natural world of the Everglades and ends with one that makes some very strong statements about how much damage humans have done to the place. But mostly it's really a history of the Everglades, or even of south Florida as a whole, from prehistory up through 1947, when the book was first published. I have to admit, I wasn't always in love with Douglas' writing style, which is a bit purplish towards the beginning and a bit disjointed towards the end. But most of the history itself is quite interesting, and was either unfamiliar to me or involved things I only knew about in broad and general terms. And she really does try very hard to bring it vividly to life, sometimes with pretty good success.

I'm also pleased to report that, while she does of course use language that's very dated now and certain kinds of descriptions that modern authors would hopefully avoid, her treatment of the native peoples of Florida is way more respectful than I'd have expected for 1947. She very much treats all the people in her narratives as people, whatever their race or culture, and accepts those cultures on their own terms. (Mind, you I can't speak to how accurate her depictions of native cultures are, but she does seem to have at least wanted get it right.) And while she might not exactly be condemning the evils of colonialism on every page, she doesn't remotely whitewash them, either, and is always ready to call an injustice and injustice and a horror a horror. So, y'know, a considerably less racist and sanitized/mythologized account of American history than I got growing up decades later, anyway.

The edition that I have also includes an extensive afterword by journalist Michael Grunwald describing what's happened to the Everglades' environment and the various efforts to both develop and conserve it since the original book was written... which is a lot, good, bad, and ugly. He also talks about Douglas's own involvement in that history, which continued well into a ripe old age.

Anyway, even if this wasn't remotely what I was expecting, I can certainly see why it was influential, and whether or not I always loved her writing, I have come away with considerable respect for Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Less so for humanity and how we treat each other and the natural world, but let's be honest, that was kind of a given.

Rating: I'm giving this a 3.5/5 as a reading experience, but as a piece of history in itself, arguably it should rate higher. ( )
2 vote bragan | Mar 18, 2024 |
I was somewhat disappointed, but I should say right now that this was very-well written and parts – especially in the first chapter – were quite poetic. But I had been hoping for a book about the ecology of the Everglades and the movement to preserve it, and instead of natural history this focused almost exclusively on human history, although several chapters near the end did discuss some of the conservation issues. The book included some vividly gory accounts of people dying in bloody massacres (and they weren’t even quotes from primary sources), and I found them sickening enough that I almost put this on my did-not-finish shelf. A few parts seemed to drag for me as well. However, in fairness I cannot say this was a bad book, only that it was not for me.

That said, I did come across several passages I especially enjoyed, and I would have been thrilled if the entire book had gone on in this vein:

“The great piles of vapor from the Gulf Stream, amazing cumulus clouds that soar higher than tropic mountains from their even bases four thousand feet above the horizon, stand in ranked and glistening splendor in those summer nights; twenty thousand feet or more they tower tremendous, cool-pearl, frosty heights, blue-shadowed in the blue-blazing days.” (Page 17).

“The water is timeless, forever new and eternal. Only the rock, which time shaped and will outlast, records unimaginable ages.” (Page 33).
( )
  Jennifer708 | Mar 21, 2020 |
An interesting book, but it wasn't what I thought based on the recommendation. A bit of history, a bit of science, a sprinkling of hope--mostly dashed. It goes to show how far mankind has come...and unfortunately how much, much further we need to go on issues like living with the natural Everglades. ( )
  dpevers | Mar 16, 2020 |
I once spent a couple days birding in the Everglades and I picked up this book at the visitor center on my way out. I wish I had read it before I got to Florida. ( )
  dele2451 | Nov 6, 2019 |
I read this book years ago and just recently reread it. Written in 1947. Timeless history of the Everglades. Excellent book. A beautiful history of the environment. ( )
  loraineo | Jul 7, 2019 |
Showing 1-5 of 9 (next | show all)
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Marjory Stoneman Douglasprimary authorall editionscalculated
Fink, RobertIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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To the memory of my father, who gave me Florida
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There are no other Everglades in the world.
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[I]n all those years of talk and excitement about drainage, the only argument was a schoolboy's logic. The drainage of the Everglades would be a Great American Thing. Americans did Great Things. Therefore Americans would drain the Everglades. Beyond that - to the intricate and subtle relation of soil, of fresh water and evaporation, and of runoff and salt intrusion, and all the consequences of disturbing the fine balance nature had set up in the past four thousand years - no one knew enough to look. They saw the Everglades no longer as a vast expanse of saw grass and water, but as a dream, a mirage of riches that many men would follow to their ruin.
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Nature. Nonfiction. HTML:

Before 1947, when Marjory Stoneman Douglas named The Everglades a "river of grass," most people considered the area worthless. She brought the world's attention to the need to preserve The Everglades. In the Afterword, Michael Grunwald tells us what has happened to them since then. Grunwald points out that in 1947 the government was in the midst of establishing the Everglades National Park and turning loose the Army Corps of Engineers to control floodsâ??both of which seemed like saviors for the Glades. But neither turned out to be the answer. Working from the research he did for his book, The Swamp, Grunwald offers an account of what went wrong and the many attempts to fix it, beginning with Save Our Everglades, which Douglas declared was "not nearly enough." Grunwald then lays out the intricacies (and inanities) of the more recent and ongoing CERP, the hugely expensive Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.

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Book description
The Everglades: River of Grass, first published in 1947, begins with the famous passage: "There are no other Everglades in the world," and continues with a fascinating look at the natural and human history of the Florida Everglades. The book portrays, in layperson's terms, the ecology of the Everglades, its important plant and animal life, its long Native American history, the coming of the Spanish, its early settlements, and the modern attempts of drainage and development, typically with disastrous results. This landmark book redefined public opinion of the Everglades from that of 'worthless swamp' to one in which the Everglades are valued as a unique ecological treasure of vital importance to the health of southern Florida. The Everglades: River of Grass remains essential reading for anyone interested in the history and conservation of this vast wilderness. Included are 2 maps. In addition to researching and writing this book, author Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998) played an important leadership role in the effort to protect the Everglades from development, and she was active in other social causes as well (civil rights, women's rights) during the course of her long life. She was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983.

Before 1947, when Marjory Stoneman Douglas named The Everglades a "river of grass," most people considered the area worthless. She brought the world's attention to the need to preserve The Everglades. In the Afterword, Michael Grunwald tells us what has happened to them since then. Grunwald points out that in 1947 the government was in the midst of establishing the Everglades National Park and turning loose the Army Corps of Engineers to control floods--both of which seemed like saviors for the Glades. But neither turned out to be the answer. Working from the research he did for his book, The Swamp, Grunwald offers an account of what went wrong and the many attempts to fix it, beginning with Save Our Everglades, which Douglas declared was "not nearly enough." Grunwald then lays out the intricacies (and inanities) of the more recent and ongoing CERP, the hugely expensive Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
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