A review by dancarey_404
Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement by Neil M. Maher

2.0

Frankly, I was on the verge of giving up on this book but kept on going because I had reached the part about the CCC's part in developing Great Smokey Mountains National Park. But it was only grit that kept me going after that. At heart, this is an academic book more than it is a popular history book. I had expected much more in the way of stories of individual CCC recruits and descriptions of their lives. That information is there, but rather sparse. And the book desperately needed a better editor. Thoughts, themes, and phrases would be repeated over and over (often within mere pages of a prior appearance). It brought to mind something written by an 8th-grader told to write a thousand-word essay and in which the student focused on meeting the word count more than on conveying information well. While [b:Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America|25816604|Rightful Heritage Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America|Douglas Brinkley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439314552l/25816604._SY75_.jpg|45626008] is a much longer book than Nature's New Deal, I found it much more instructive in the history of the CCC and New Deal-era conservation.