Dangers in Against the Tide by Cornelia Dean - Book Report/Review Example

 Against the Tide Book Review Against the Tide by Cornelia Dean is a book about the dangers that face America’s beaches. More than simply discussing the problem of erosion along our beachfronts, she discusses the significant problems humans have introduced to the shoreline as they have built up structures from which they might enjoy the shoreline and then attempted to protect this from a strongly uncaring sea. The author states the purpose of the book within the introduction as being an attempt to get Americans to think about the way in which they’re using the country’s coastal properties and to encourage them to leave the beaches to nature as a means of reducing both environmental and personal damage. Acknowledging that her information is strung together by a lifetime of personal interest in the field and journalistic information gathering during her career as a writer for the New York Times, Dean’s book promises an overview of the issues involved and a reasoned plea for restraint in building up the beaches. In the final analysis, though, this book delivers high-quality information presented in a readable style that conveys not only the problems facing the nation’s beaches, but also the significance of this problem to the rest of the world. As an attempt to convince Americans not to build on the beaches, thus contributing to the erosion problem, the book is a success. Dean pulls her readers in by starting the book with an account of the devastating effects of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane and how the city responded. After outlining the city’s natural sense of vengeance against the uncaring ocean and its Herculean efforts to place it out of harm’s reach, she then outlines the long-term effects the sea wall and raising of the city have had on the coastline itself. Interspersing personal stories regarding coastline studies and devastating storms or other issues caused by erosion with factual and explanatory information regarding what these studies actually mean creates a solid argument against the process of building on the beach or attempting in any way to protect those buildings once constructed. Although she claims no scientific or special expertise on her own part, Dean’s work is widely recognized as a credible source for a number of other volumes including American Disasters by Stephen Biel (2001) and The Earth Around Us: Maintaining a Livable Planet by Jill Schneiderman (2003). As she outlines storm after storm and lost town after lost town, Dean continues to highlight the involvement of human encroachment on the shore as the reason storms in recent centuries have seemed to grow worse as property damage and loss of life increase the more we move onto the beach. The book’s content is focused on the scientific data that supports the author’s claims as it is discovered through studies conducted in anticipation of or following a major storm or land-loss event. Her findings are supported by a number of experts including Andrew Goudie, who opens his book The Human Impact on the Natural Environment: Past, Present and Future (1994) with a point by point overview of some of the ways in which human actions have deprived the environment of its natural abilities to heal. In spite of these hard facts, Dean’s information is presented in an easily readable style that does not bog the reader down with scientific jargon. In introducing the problem of bulkheads on the beach in Miami, Dean doesn’t just start outlining the scientific reasons why these bulkheads are actually serving to help erode the beach at a faster rate, instead she introduces a story as a means of making this information personal. “One sunny morning in the spring of 1970, Susan Miller set out to walk along the shore of Miami Beach, the barrier island across Biscayne Bay from Miami” (92). This style of writing could as easily exist in a fictional story about a girl and a beach as it exists in the more serious venue of the present text. The content also makes a logical progression from storm stories and issues of ‘armoring’ the beach to the processes of natural erosion and humankind’s inevitable losing battle with the tides. This highly readable style is one of the great strengths of the book although it can also be considered one of its weaknesses. Because Dean makes the book easy to read and relates it to the individual level, the information contained seems highly accessible. At the same time, this information is also based on scientific studies that make the concept of beach erosion as she presents it seem irrefutable. This is assisted by common sense and an awareness of coastal history as towns along the shoreline begin to fall into the sea. However, this tone also serves to lessen the impact of the hard-data collected as Dean sometimes seems to try too hard to bring the impact of her news into the living room. She never lets up on her message of don’t build on the beach and it begins to get a bit monotonous toward the end of the text. Because the facts presented are provided by actual field scientists conducting the research or through the tracking of historical records and present day comparison, the authority of the author is not called into question but the reader begins to feel overwhelmed with the relentless message being delivered. At the same time, though, this relentless message is part of what makes the book so effective in achieving its purpose of spreading awareness. In conclusion, Against the Tide succeeds in its general purpose of conveying a sense of shame and responsibility for the destruction of the nation’s beaches in those who have been involved in its development, which includes all those who have ever visited or encouraged the development of a tourist trade in these areas. Its relentless message of unchanging and unavoidable natural erosion and the scientific proof that human attempts at intervention only serve to quicken the process pounds against the reader like the unrelenting tides she discusses. Overall, it is a good book for those who wish to understand the processes currently affecting our beaches and beach development but don’t want to get too deep into the details and scientific jargon of the processes involved. Works Cited Biel, Stephan. American Disasters. New York: New York University Press, 2001. Dean, Cornelia. Against the Tide: The Battle for America’s Beaches. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. Goudie, Andrew. The Human Impact on the Natural Environment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994. Schneiderman, Jill. The Earth Around Us: Maintaining a Livable Planet. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2003. Read More