02010nam a22003017i 450000500170000000800410001702000180005802000150007603500320009104000310012308200150015410000250016924500510019426400390024530000140028433600260029833700280032433800270035252011380037965000360151765000290155365000220158265000200160465000180162465000120164265000160165465000380167020261016202626.0261016s1994    xx ||||| |||||||| 0|eng d  a9780395468821  a0395468825  a(KOHALIB)isbn-9780395468821  aKOHALIBbengerdacKOHALIB04a970.012231 aMacLeish, William H.14aThe day before America /cWilliam H. MacLeish. 1aBoston :bHoughton Mifflin,c1994.  a277 pages  atextbtxt2rdacontent  aunmediatedbn2rdamedia  avolumebnc2rdacarrier  aHistory 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. 4aHunting and Gathering Societies 4aIndians of North America 4aIndian Philosophy 4aNatural History 4aHuman Ecology 4aHistory 4aPrehistorie 4aIndians of North America, History