Gulf

The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea

by Jack E. Davis

5 Stars

A non-fiction work about the Gulf of Mexico and the US states bordering it.

My Review

An excellent book that covers the physical, social, and economic history of this area. I learned many things about which I had no knowledge of. The book does have an environmental slant and you will learn much about the exploitive nature of humanity. The author is a Professor of Environmental History.

The book is in four parts. Part 1 cover’s the prehistory and the introduction of Europeans into the area. the Gulf is clearly an area of abundance that is not initially appreciated by the Europeans. Part 2 takes place mostly in the 19th Century when extensive exploitation of its natural resources begins.

Part 3 takes us into the birth of the oil industry in the Gulf states and then its movement into the Gulf itself. The economic benefits of the oil industry are covered but the environmental effects are documented and highlighted. Part 4 covers the post-1943 period with extensive discussion of the development in Florida.

The approach of the book is to try to humanize the topic by focusing in on specific areas, stories, or persons and then to generalize. Sometimes this approach works very well but others it seems poorly constructed. A positive example is the coverage of the impact of the oil industry by discussion of the artist Walter Anderson.

This book has influenced my understanding on the exploitive nature of humanity. As a remembrance I purchased a water-colored print by Anderson. Realizations is a small shop run by the family of Walter Anderson, dedicated to making his artwork accessible to more people.

Highly recommended. It will take some time to read and topics are sometimes very in-depth.

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