The Edge of the Sea

Description

In The Edge of the Sea Rachel Carson introduces us to the 'strange and beautiful place' where the sea meets the land. She explores a tide pool, an inaccessible cave, and watches a lone crab on the shore at midnight. From these, and other, encounters she offers us not just a scientifically accurate study of the ecology of the seashore, but also a hauntingly beautiful account of the fragile balance of life found at the edge of the sea. The Edge of the Sea, like all her writing, sounds a prophetic alarm for the damage mankind is doing to the natural world, but also offers us inspiration: here is beauty, here is something worth saving.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was an American marine biologist. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sea trilogy: The Sea Around Us (winner of the National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal), Under the Sea-Wind and The Edge of the Sea; as well as the seminal Silent Spring. Her books have been credited with advancing the global environmental movement.

The timely reissue of a classic maritime trilogy shows that the "poet of the oceans" was far ahead of her time . . . What's striking is that Carson is a keen observer of the interconnectedness of things . . . Her sea series is not only fascinating for those with an interest in the prehistory of Silent Spring. There is much to marvel at in these pages. The Edge Of The Sea is a book to take down to the beach and rockpools - I will pack it in my own bag for the summer holidays * * Herald * * A brilliantly written argument that changed the course of history -- AL GORE Catching the life breath of science on the still glass of poetry * * Time * * Praise for the Sea trilogy: This combination of science and scintillating prose provides fascinating insights into the mysteries of the tides . . . a masterpiece of ecological writing * * Guardian * * Rereading her natural histories, what stands out is how beautiful the writing is. Carson combined a scientist's ability to see with a novelist's ability to imagine * * New Yorker * * [Carson] is the poet laureate of the sea, but also of that "web of life", in which everything is connected to everything else * * London Review of Books * * Rachel Carson was one of the reasons why I became so conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental issues . . . Her picture hangs on my office wall among those of political leaders, presidents and prime ministers. It has been there for years, and it belongs there. Carson has had as much or more an effect on me than any of them, and perhaps all of them together -- AL GORE Praise for Silent Spring: Brilliantly written: clear, controlled and authoritative . . . one of the most effective books ever written . . . the impact is, in all senses, stunning * * Guardian * * Much of what Carson wrote to great controversy is now conventional wisdom. To read Silent Spring now is in part to understand how we got to where we are * * Wall Street Journal * *