Overview

Although suburb-building created major environmental problems, Christopher Sellers demonstrates that the environmental movement originated within suburbs--not just in response to unchecked urban sprawl. Drawn to the countryside as early as the late nineteenth century, new suburbanites turned to taming the wildness of their surroundings. They cultivated a fondness for the natural world around them, and in the decades that followed, they became sensitized to potential threats. Sellers shows how the philosophy, science, and emotions that catalyzed the environmental movement sprang directly from suburbanites' lives and their ideas about nature, as well as the unique ecology of the neighborhoods in which they dwelt. Sellers focuses on the spreading edges of New York and Los Angeles over the middle of the twentieth century to create an intimate portrait of what it was like to live amid suburban nature. As suburbanites learned about their land, became aware of pollution, and saw the forests shrinking around them, the vulnerability of both their bodies and their homes became apparent. Worries crossed lines of class and race and necessitated new ways of thinking and acting, Sellers argues, concluding that suburb-dwellers, through the knowledge and politics they forged, deserve much of the credit for inventing modern environmentalism.

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9781469621852

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Reviews

The real treat of Sellers's book is his masterful use of oral histories with suburbanites to provide snapshot biographies ranging over class, race, and environment. -- Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Highlighting the social complexity of the suburban environmental movement, showing its deeply local character, and illuminating changing ideas of nature, Crabgrass Crucible develops a strong argument for environmentalism sprouting in the suburbs.--American Historical Review

Sellers's convincing and nuanced argument places the birthplace of the U.S. environmental movement in the suburbs of its largest cities. . . The accomplishments of Crabgrass Crucible are significant.-- Technology and Culture

Crabgrass Crucible covers a broad and important theme with insight, imagination, and literary distinction even while demonstrating enormous research, deep intelligence, and impressive conceptualization. It should be required reading for anyone wit

Highlighting the social complexity of the suburban environmental movement, showing its deeply local character, and illuminating changing ideas of nature, Crabgrass Crucible develops a strong argument for environmentalism sprouting in the suburbs.--American Historical Review Sellers's convincing and nuanced argument places the birthplace of the U.S. environmental movement in the suburbs of its largest cities. . . The accomplishments of Crabgrass Crucible are significant.--Technology and Culture The importance of Sellers' work cannot be overstated.--Treehugger.com Sets history on a new path.--Journal of American History Sellers reveals a suburban world filled with nature and with people coming to terms with it in meaningful ways. . . . It is difficult to come away from this book without new insights into environmentalism and mid-twentieth-century suburbs. . . . Not all readers will agree with Sellers' interpretation, but no reader can afford to ignore it.--Reviews in American History Crabgrass Crucible is an important contribution to the culture of urbanization and to our understanding of how galvanized suburbanites forged a new environmental movement. It should be required reading.--Pacific Historical Review A deft scholarly pen flows with accessible prose, and the author's humanity shines through on every page.--Social History of Medicine Delivering significant insights and fearless observations in spirited prose, it is not only a highly engaging book but also an important one. . . . Exquisite historical detail.--Environment and History Puts to rest the narrative of suburbia as a purely nature-destroying phenomenon. The challenge now is how we might exploit these low-density settlements for ecological and social benefit.--The Dirt The detailed analysis and narrative adopted by Sellers is impressive and convincing. Indeed, while this suburban-environmental relationship remains to be fully understood, Sellers goes a long way in the right direction.--Journal of Historical Geography Crabgrass Crucible covers a broad and important theme with insight, imagination, and literary distinction even while demonstrating enormous research, deep intelligence, and impressive conceptualization. It should be required reading for anyone with a passing interest in suburban, urban, or environmental history.--Journal of Interdisciplinary History Seller's ecological narrative facilitates understanding how ordinary Americans, suffering from and, in some cases, overcoming consumer alienation in residential spaces, tamed nature and tamed themselves.--Environmental History The real treat of Sellers's book is his masterful use of oral histories with suburbanites to provide snapshot biographies ranging over class, race, and environment.--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Highlighting the social complexity of the suburban environmental movement, showing its deeply local character, and illuminating changing ideas of nature, <i>Crabgrass Crucible</i> develops a strong argument for environmentalism sprouting in the suburbs.--<i>American Historical Review</i>

Crabgrass Crucible covers a broad and important theme with insight, imagination, and literary distinction even while demonstrating enormous research, deep intelligence, and impressive conceptualization. It should be required reading for anyone with a passing interest in suburban, urban, or environmental history.--Journal of Interdisciplinary History Crabgrass Crucible is an important contribution to the culture of urbanization and to our understanding of how galvanized suburbanites forged a new environmental movement. It should be required reading.--Pacific Historical Review A deft scholarly pen flows with accessible prose, and the author's humanity shines through on every page.--Social History of Medicine Delivering significant insights and fearless observations in spirited prose, it is not only a highly engaging book but also an important one. . . . Exquisite historical detail.--Environment and History Highlighting the social complexity of the suburban environmental movement, showing its deeply local character, and illuminating changing ideas of nature, Crabgrass Crucible develops a strong argument for environmentalism sprouting in the suburbs.--American Historical Review Seller's ecological narrative facilitates understanding how ordinary Americans, suffering from and, in some cases, overcoming consumer alienation in residential spaces, tamed nature and tamed themselves.--Environmental History Sellers reveals a suburban world filled with nature and with people coming to terms with it in meaningful ways. . . . It is difficult to come away from this book without new insights into environmentalism and mid-twentieth-century suburbs. . . . Not all readers will agree with Sellers' interpretation, but no reader can afford to ignore it.--Reviews in American History Sellers's convincing and nuanced argument places the birthplace of the U.S. environmental movement in the suburbs of its largest cities. . . The accomplishments of Crabgrass Crucible are significant.--Technology and Culture The detailed analysis and narrative adopted by Sellers is impressive and convincing. Indeed, while this suburban-environmental relationship remains to be fully understood, Sellers goes a long way in the right direction.--Journal of Historical Geography The real treat of Sellers's book is his masterful use of oral histories with suburbanites to provide snapshot biographies ranging over class, race, and environment.--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Author Information

Christopher C. Sellers is associate professor of history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

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