Amid the serious science of Bogland is a story that may lack goblins or pixies, but is full of enchantment and drama ... Occasionally the book itself becomes, well, bogged down in repetition ... Yet is a transporting book and a persuasive call to action.
In Bogland, Merritt Turetsky presents bogs as remote and difficult yet beautiful and full of life. There is no mistaking her passion ... An urgent call to save our remaining boglands ... What keeps the book alive are her accounts of fieldwork: wading among stunning carnivorous plants in a Borneo swamp or realizing with grief that peat samples carefully preserved for her doctorate research have been incinerated in a wildfire.
Bogland is a work of natural history, cultural analysis, and memoir that challenges our dismissal of these damp spots. It’s that rare book that gives roots to my lifelong fascination with a murky realm of salvation and murder.
Thank goodness Merritt Turetsky became captivated by boglands ... Anytime Turetsky dove into her own adventures in boglands, I was transfixed. It’s in these moments — trying to stay calm amid insect swarms, reaching her arms deep into the murk and wading through muck with other devoted scientists — that the book shines ... My time spent in Bogland felt expertly navigated by Turetsky. I emerged firmly on team boglands. For me, the book’s ultimate gift was igniting a reverence for these incredible ecosystems. And to my great delight, Turetsky closes with a list of bogs, some with boardwalks, that people can visit.
Fascinating and sometimes frightening ... There is hope for the future of our boglands, but that depends on our participation and advocacy. Boglands: The Secret World That Defies Death and Protects Life is an important start toward conserving and re-appreciating some of our most precious and misunderstood landscapes.
Accessible, engaging ... Turetsky is a passionate storyteller and educator who invites readers to respect, appreciate, and enjoy these unique and threatened spaces.
Ecologist Turetsky, who has been studying boglands for more than 30 years, tells a complex story of their role in our past and our potential existence in the future. Her book is an amalgam of detailed stories from her research activities, the history of boglands, and some dire predictions for the future. Bogs act as enormous air filters, trapping carbon from the atmosphere ... A heartfelt plea for the protection of ancient, complex systems that help protect the world’s ecology and climate.
