THE DARKENING LAND

by William Longgood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1972

Muckraking, quite literally and forcefully, by the author of the vanguard if controversial Poisons In Your Food (1960). On land, sea, and air, through continents and cities, the book maps the earth as a polluted wasteland of people, garbage, and noise. The gruesome details are festooned on an unending string of scandals and frightening projections. There is something for every special interest; even classicists trained to treat historical ironies with equanimity will be shocked to learn that the Greeks ""have been warned. . . that. . . Athens must be abandoned if air pollution cannnot be controlled"" and ""in a few years the Acropolis. . . will be invisible."" As for the population controversy, two millennia from now people could be ""expanding at the speed of light,"" uncomfortable to say the least, and technological innovations cannot help: ""The machine must, in the end, make man poorer rather than richer in real wealth. That is its nature."" Which makes one wonder how man advanced out of caves -- but that is the dubious merit of the book: one constantly wonders. Just about every existing form of pollution can be found in this ""all-embracing"" work.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION