| Book Review | Environmental History, 9.3

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| Book Review | Environmental History, 9.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

The Modern Demon: Pollution in Urban and Industrial European Societies. Edited by Christoph Bernhardt and Genviève Massard-Guilbaud. Clermont-Ferrand: Presses Universitaires Blaise-Pascal, 2002. 465 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, lists of contributors. $34.00.
The spirit of Joseph Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness" appears to be alive and well among some environmental historians. Pollution is the latest concept to be attributed to the "dark side" of modern man. "Far from being solely secondary consequences (Nebenfolge) of modernity," write Bernhardt and Massard-Guilbaud, "the concepts of pollution and political disorder are well at the heart of modern society, its dark side, its 'demon'" (p. 13).	1
This collection of essays challenges the conventional view that pollution is merely a by-product of industrial processes. Far from being a consequence of modernization, the editors consider pollution to be central to the origins of modern society itself. The editors cite as a major inspiration the work of Joel A. Tarr, who, in his work The Search for the Ultimate Sink: Urban Pollution in Historical Perspective, has defined pollution as "the product of the interaction among technology, scientific knowledge, human culture and values, and environment. Environmental policy and control technology are further elements." (University of Akron, 1996, p.7).	. . .

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