Steven Hawley

Cracked by Steven Hawley is an important look at the damage done by the over-utilization of dams, to both the environment and many people's lives.

Hawley provides a history of both the building and the damage done, offering insight into not simply what happened but why. Ranging from some policymakers believing they were doing good to those who simply saw another way to make money at the expense of, well, anyone and anything else.

While I would have preferred some endnotes or footnotes, Hawley largely mentions in the text where a lot of his information came from. This is not an academic book, it is written by a journalist, and not many newspapers (real or virtual) or magazines have them. The bibliography is excellent. You can ignore someone who is so enamored of their Kindle because they can see what percentage of a book is "documentation." They don't understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative. But they also recently caught the word corporatism and now they seem to misuse it everywhere they can. Simple minds, what can I say.

I'd recommend this to those who don't think that saving the environment, you know, the world that supports our existence, is a partisan issue. And since we live in a democracy (sorta) then when things are harmful it is our responsibility to be active in changing them, so yeah, use this to motivate your activism. Activism is not a bad thing except to those who mistakenly believe themselves to be entitled to their unearned position.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (más)