Killing Bugs for Business and Beauty: Canada's Aerial War against Forest Pests, 1913-1930

Killing Bugs for Business and Beauty explores the beginning of Canada's aerial war against forest insects and how a tiny handful of officials led the world with a made-in-Canada solution. It highlights the shared impulses between harvesters and preservers of trees and the dangers of allowing emotional appeals to drive environmental policy-making.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 284 pages
Publication date: 14 April 2022
Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Killing Bugs for Business and Beauty delves into the origins of Canada's aerial war against forest insects, revealing how a small group of officials led the world in developing a made-in-Canada solution to the problem. This book sheds light on a largely overlooked chapter in Canadian environmental history, exploring the theme of nature and its agency. It highlights the shared impulses that often drove both harvesters and tree preservers, as well as the inherent dangers of allowing emotional appeals to override logical decision-making in environmental policy-making. The book addresses intergovernmental and intragovernmental relations, as well as pressure politics and lobbying. Through captivating tales from Cape Breton Island, Muskoka, and Stanley Park, Killing Bugs for Business and Beauty vividly illustrates how class, region, and commercial interests intersected to determine the location and timing of aerial bombings. At the heart of this book lies a story infused with innovation and heroism, shedding light on the complex conflicts that complicate our worship of wilderness.

Weight: 538g
Dimension: 177 x 254 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781487526474