"This fresh, meticulously researched monograph fits into the ever-growing genre of works on American environmental history, under the subcategories of state studies and women activists. Widely perceived as a national leader in environmentalism, California's contribution to that movement is illuminated in this volume by useful information not found in any other single study. . . . I strongly recommend At Home in the World for scholars, public officials, journalists, students, and environmentalists alike. This is a first-rate book."—Thomas J. Osborne, California History
"At Home in the World is a lean and accessible book that would work well in the undergraduate classroom in courses on California history and American environmental history."—Michael Gunther, H-Environment
“Kathleen Cairns brings the history of environmental awakening in California to light with stories of women who stood up against seemingly impossible odds. Their achievements are our heritage. At a time when Earth is under siege, the stories and examples of activism in At Home in the World offer us a path forward.”—Bette Korber, prize-winning theoretical biologist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and passionate advocate of wild rivers
“Kathleen Cairns engagingly reveals how women, frequently without conventional political power, nevertheless proved to be successful activists, effectively limiting and sometimes even eliminating postwar efforts to further exploit and damage California’s natural resources. Cairns also addresses the vitally important roles of race and class as well as gender in her many engaging stories of women who strove to protect California’s environment.”—Nancy C. Unger, author of Beyond Nature’s Housekeepers: American Women in Environmental History
