The day before America
By: William H. MacLeish ; illustrated by Will Bryant.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 277
Subjects: Indians of North America -- History; Hunting and gathering societies -- North America; Indian philosophy -- North America; Natural history -- North America; Human ecology -- North America
Description: History and prehistory come alive in this extraordinary account of America as it was before it got its name. William H. MacLeish paints a heart-rending portrait of the lush, miraculous New World on the eve of the Encounter - the arrival of the first Europeans, after which nothing would be the same.

Drawing on the work of anthropologists, geologists, and other academic experts, MacLeish roams over 18,000 years of the continent's history, exploring the role of climate and human activity in preparing the world that we have inherited. The Day Before America is studded with fascinating information on the awesome changes wrought by the ice age (and the inevitability of its return), the ecological effects of hunting and early agriculture, the astonishing variety of Indian civilizations, and the transformations in the continent's nature over the past five hundred years. It is a book informed by a deep commitment to the wonder and sacredness of the natural world.

At bottom, it is a statement of belief in an unsentimental environmentalism - an effort to see our world in the longest view, and to value it all the more for that.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [250]-277).
"A Richard Todd book."
Maps on lining paper.