American Pests: The Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT

by James McWilliams

Overview

The world of insects is one we only dimly understand. Yet from using arsenic, cobalt, and quicksilver to kill household infiltrators to employing the sophisticated tools of the Orkin Man, Americans have fought to eradicate the "bugs" they have learned to hate.

Inspired by the still-revolutionary theories of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, James E. McWilliams argues for a more harmonious and rational approach to our relationship with insects, one that does not harm our environment and, consequently, ourselves along the way. Beginning with the early techniques of colonial farmers and ending with the modern use of chemical insecticides, McWilliams deftly shows how America's war on insects mirrors its continual struggle with nature, economic development, technology, and federal regulation. He reveals a very American paradox: the men and women who settled and developed this country sought to control the environment and achieve certain economic goals; yet their methods of agricultural expansion undermined their efforts and linked them even closer to the inexorable realities of the insect world.

As told from the perspective of the often flamboyant actors in the battle against insects, American Pests is a fascinating investigation into the attitudes, policies, and practices that continue to influence our behavior toward insects. Asking us to question, if not abandon, our reckless (and sometimes futile) attempts at insect control, McWilliams convincingly argues that insects, like people, have an inherent right to exist and that in our attempt to rid ourselves of insects, we compromise the balance of nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231139427
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	06/17/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James E. McWilliams is an associate professor of history at Texas State University-San Marcos and a recent fellow in the Agrarian Studies Program at Yale University. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post, among other publications, and he is the author of A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America and Building the Bay Colony: Local Economy and Society in Early Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction. "The Dunghill of Men's Passions": The Insect Paradox
1. "The Insect Tribes Still Maintain Their Ground": Insects and Early Americans
2. "There Is No Royal Road to the Destruction of Bugs": The Rise of the Professionals
3. "Let Us Conquer Space": Breaking the Plains and Fighting the Insects
4. "A Great Schemer": Charles V. Riley and the Broken Promises of Early Insecticides
5. "Let Us Spray": Mosquitoes, War, and Chemicals
6. "Vot Iss de Effidence?": Residues, Regulations, and the Politics of Protecting Insecticides
7. "Complaints Are Coming In": A Year in the Life of an Insecticide Nation, 1938
8. "Let's Put Our Heads Together and Start a New Country Up": Silent Springs and Loud Protests
Epilogue. "Some Very Learned Men Are the Greatest Fools in the World": In Praise of Localism
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

James H. Jones

James E. McWilliams deserves high praise. He has given us the best in-depth study of the poorly conceived, terribly managed, and utterly futile war on insect pests in the United States. Sweeping in its scope, acute in its analysis, and balanced in its judgments, American Pests should precipitate a national dialogue about how we attempt to manage the insect world, whether in our farms and orchards or in our own backyards.

Jeffrey A. Lockwood

The originality of American Pests comes in the impressive sweep of its analysis and the integration of heretofore fragmented events into a coherent story.

— Jeffrey A. Lockwood, professor of natural sciences and humanities, University of Wyoming

Editorial Reviews

Highly recommended.

Choice

a solid contribution to U.S. environmental history, one that is refreshingly ambitious in its chronological scope.

Sarah T. Phillipsn Historical Review

...a rewarding read...

Journal of Southern History - Joshua B. Buhs

[McWilliams'] book should resonate in these times of GM temptations and global food shortages.

Times Literary Supplement

"[An] articulate, well-organized... excellent primer.

Seattle Times - Irene Wanner

An engaging and important book.

Technology and Culture - David Kinkela

a solid contribution to U.S. environmental history, one that is refreshingly ambitious in its chronological scope.

American Historical Review - Sarah T. Phillips

[McWilliams'] book should resonate in these times of GM temptations and global food shortages.

Time Magazines Literary Supplement

a solid contribution to U.S. environmental history, one that is refreshingly ambitious in its chronological scope.

— Sarah T. Phillips

American Historical Review

[An] articulate, well-organized... excellent primer.

— Irene Wanner

Seattle Times

An engaging and important book.

— David Kinkela

Technology and Culture

McWilliams's (A Revolution in Eating) knowledge of American history and food production (he's a fellow in agrarian studies at Yale) provides a firm foundation to this colorful chronicle of pest management in the United States. The author traces a history in which timber harvesting, monoculture and various forms of development contributed to the spread of insects that feed on crops. McWilliams marks the beginning of "the professional fight against insects" with the 1841 publication of a book for farmers by Thaddeus William Harris, a self-taught entomologist. Agricultural journals advised farmers on how to protect tobacco crops from hornworms and wheat from weevils. Trains and barges hastened the spread of the Colorado potato beetle and chinch bugs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture added a Division of Entomology, but early biological and cultural methods soon faded as companies found profit in selling pesticides; DDT, first a miracle for eradicating malaria-carrying mosquitoes, became the bane of environmentalists thanks to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. McWilliams's treatment is as well written as it is thorough and should appeal to readers interested in history as well as environmental issues. Illus., maps. (July)

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Publishers Weekly

McWilliams (history, Texas State Univ., San Marcos; agrarian studies, Yale Univ.) knows how to address unusual historical topics in rich detail. His previous book, A Revolution in Eating, delved into the evolution of food in colonial America. This time he uses his talent for detailed research across time, beginning with the colonial era and ending with the present, to describe the ongoing and ever-changing battle with insects. It is particularly poignant that his description of the colonists' struggle with insects shares similarities with problems people still face today. The early settlers had to deal not only with pests new to them but, more important, also address the invasive species that they inadvertently brought with them from the old country. Regarding pest management today, the author cogently argues that government regulations have influenced current approaches as much as the science itself. McWilliams has a lot of ground to cover and could have written about the topic as a grand time line. Instead, although the narrative shifts quickly across the years, he gives each event thorough coverage and enough facets to put the story on a human scale. Recommended for all academic and larger public libraries.
—Marianne Stowell Bracke

Library Journal