I have over the years reviewed a number of books on the environment: in some I have commented on the stance of the authors and may have compared it with the theoretical position I am coming from. But on the whole I have then considered the book on its merits as a collection of facts. In a way that has been a mythical position; useful but not true. Positions on the environment are not like positions on lumping and splitting in plant taxonomy or theories on the nature of dark matter. One’s position on the environment is a political position, and to pretend it is not an unsustainable position. This dictionary‐like encyclopedia does not mess about; it examines and describes the political background to environmental issues. John Barry is Reader in Politics at Queen’s University Belfast, and Gene Frankland is Professor of Politics at Ball State University Indiana. The contributors are from mainly academic institutions, and mainly, but not exclusively, from North America and Europe.
The editors and their team have put together 500 entries by 160 authors from around the world. There are short factual accounts of about 150 words, in‐depth overviews of 750 words and 1,500 word comprehensive essays. The subjects cover national environmental politics, production systems, topics like biodiversity and energy, political and campaigning organisations and individuals. Each entry includes references and further reading. These are not gathered together in a bibliography but the authors are included in the index, a 25 page compilation. It is a pity that not all books mentioned are given full bibliographic details. It is interesting to know that Ann Bramwell’s book on the history of Ecology in the 20th Century is controversial, but one might like to read it (it was published by Yale University Press in 1989). But, apart from small quibbles like that, I find the book informative and interesting. It is also easy to use, which is one of the marks of a good reference book.
If there is a fault with the work, it is that it is stronger on the developed world than the developing, and the editors freely admit this in the introduction. However, environmental politics is more vocal in the developed world, and that is where the market for this book is. This encyclopedia will be useful to anyone working either academically, politically or commercially in fields that come into contact with environmental politics, and as I implied in my introduction, it is difficult not to do so.
