The Chesapeake in Focus

"Tom Pelton, one of the country's leading environmental journalists, offers us a wealth of knowledge about the Chesapeake Bay, collected from his more than two decades of reporting on this ecological, cultural, and historical treasure... The highlight, perhaps, comes toward the end, when Pelton proposes 10 realistic steps for bay restoration. We should listen to him."

"A terrific book... Really puts in perspective the different issues swirling about the Bay."

"Really good book about a really great ecosystem."

"Tom Pelton's The Chesapeake in Focus masterfully captures the people, places, critters, and policies of the Chesapeake Bay region. It is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the difficult fight to protect the bay."

"Pelton brings a clear-eyed analysis to what has worked, and not worked, in our decades-long effort to save the bay. This book is destined to enter the canon of Chesapeake Bay literature. It is a worthy successor to Tom Horton’s classic Turning the Tide."

"The Chesapeake in Focus is a tour de force study of the decades-long attempt to restore the nation’s greatest estuary to health. Pelton gives credit where credit is due for recent cleanup successes, but he also lays out the unvarnished truths about the failures of EPA and questions whether mainstream environmental groups really have the gumption to fight for the progress we need. This is a good and constructive read about what it will take to restore the Chesapeake Bay."

"Tom Pelton’s book on the Chesapeake is a gift to anyone who cares about this great national treasure. Pelton is without question the most gifted and informed writer the Chesapeake has had in a generation, and the knowledge he distills here—gathered from the rivers, the farms, and the people that make the bay so magical—comes at a critical time in the Chesapeake’s long recovery. I will be giving this to everyone I know who loves this beautiful estuary."

"In Maryland, we love the Chesapeake Bay, or at least we believe these words when we say them. We are, in fact, loving it to death. In this remarkable book, arranged with increasing impact from rivers to people to fish and crabs, and finally to revealing decades of hypocrisy, Tom tells the truth, a truth we must accept if the bay is to survive."