What do you think?
Rate this book
Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America
The New York Times Editors' Choice
NPR Science Friday Book Club Selection An intimate and revelatory dive into the world of the beaver—the wonderfully weird rodent that has surprisingly shaped American history and may save its ecological future.
From award-winning writer Leila Philip, BEAVERLAND is a masterful work of narrative science writing, a book that highlights, though history and contemporary storytelling, how this weird rodent plays an oversized role in American history and its future. She follows fur trappers who lead her through waist high water, fur traders and fur auctioneers, as well as wildlife managers, PETA activists, Native American environmental vigilantes, scientists, engineers, and the colorful group of activists known as beaver believers .
Beginning with the early trans-Atlantic trade in North America, Leila Philip traces the beaver’s profound influence on our nation’s early economy and feverish western expansion, its first corporations and multi-millionaires. In her pursuit of this weird and wonderful animal, she introduces us to people whose lives are devoted to the beaver, including a Harvard scientist from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, who uses drones to create 3-dimensional images of beaver dams; and an environmental restoration consultant in the Chesapeake whose nickname is the “beaver whisperer”.
What emerges is a poignant personal narrative, a startling portrait of the secretive world of the contemporary fur trade, and an engrossing ecological and historical investigation of these heroic animals who, once trapped to the point of extinction, have returned to the landscape as one of the greatest conservation stories of the 20th century. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, BEAVERLAND reveals the profound ways in which one odd creature and the trade surrounding it has shaped history, culture, and our environment.
NPR Science Friday Book Club Selection An intimate and revelatory dive into the world of the beaver—the wonderfully weird rodent that has surprisingly shaped American history and may save its ecological future.
From award-winning writer Leila Philip, BEAVERLAND is a masterful work of narrative science writing, a book that highlights, though history and contemporary storytelling, how this weird rodent plays an oversized role in American history and its future. She follows fur trappers who lead her through waist high water, fur traders and fur auctioneers, as well as wildlife managers, PETA activists, Native American environmental vigilantes, scientists, engineers, and the colorful group of activists known as beaver believers .
Beginning with the early trans-Atlantic trade in North America, Leila Philip traces the beaver’s profound influence on our nation’s early economy and feverish western expansion, its first corporations and multi-millionaires. In her pursuit of this weird and wonderful animal, she introduces us to people whose lives are devoted to the beaver, including a Harvard scientist from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, who uses drones to create 3-dimensional images of beaver dams; and an environmental restoration consultant in the Chesapeake whose nickname is the “beaver whisperer”.
What emerges is a poignant personal narrative, a startling portrait of the secretive world of the contemporary fur trade, and an engrossing ecological and historical investigation of these heroic animals who, once trapped to the point of extinction, have returned to the landscape as one of the greatest conservation stories of the 20th century. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, BEAVERLAND reveals the profound ways in which one odd creature and the trade surrounding it has shaped history, culture, and our environment.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2022
741 people are currently reading
8301 people want to read
About the author
Leila Philip
9 books41 followersLeila Philip, creative nonfiction, is the author of A Family Place (SUNY, 2009) and The Road Through Miyama (Random House, 1989), which won the PEN 1990 Martha Albrand Citation for Nonfiction. She has received awards for her writing from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Guggenheim Foundation. She is Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.
(from https://www.ashland.edu/cas/faculty-s...)
(from https://www.ashland.edu/cas/faculty-s...)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 449 reviews
abandoned
March 8, 2023DNF at 4% (plus, chapter headings and dipping in here and there)
I can't stand this new trend with so many so-called "science" books that are more about people and mythology and other silly stuff than the subject the book is supposed to be about.
I want beaver facts, not reading about the author and her dog looking for beaver dams and how she feels about beavers, or beavers in various indigenous groups' mythologies, or people hunting and trapping beavers.
Beaver facts, please. Just facts.
This is not science. This is mythology and sociology and human history and memoir and it's freaking boring.
I can't stand this new trend with so many so-called "science" books that are more about people and mythology and other silly stuff than the subject the book is supposed to be about.
I want beaver facts, not reading about the author and her dog looking for beaver dams and how she feels about beavers, or beavers in various indigenous groups' mythologies, or people hunting and trapping beavers.
Beaver facts, please. Just facts.
This is not science. This is mythology and sociology and human history and memoir and it's freaking boring.
February 9, 2023
I struggled with this book despite really wanting to enjoy it. Parts of it were really poorly written and extremely dry. And I'm mostly disappointed at how little I learned about beavers reading this book.
I'd say this falls into a category of science writing that I don't enjoy, where an author researches a topic and then writes a book on it. As opposed to a book where a content specialist writes about their field of expertise. What you have is a story about Leila Philip going around and talking to people who know about beavers. The book is about her, not the beavers.
I'd say this falls into a category of science writing that I don't enjoy, where an author researches a topic and then writes a book on it. As opposed to a book where a content specialist writes about their field of expertise. What you have is a story about Leila Philip going around and talking to people who know about beavers. The book is about her, not the beavers.
January 17, 2023
3.5
I have a hard time rating this book. Beaverland is well written and deeply researched. Philip really dedicated time to the subject of beaver's history in North America. However, there were certain chapters where my interest waned. Particularly those that went in-depth about watersheds and river dynamics. I understand how the beaver is integral to these systems, but I found the writing a little scientific and "dry."
Overall, Beaverland was an informative read about how important the beaver was to landscapes of the past and how they are still important for helping "save" the landscapes of the future. North America was literally shaped by beavers physically, culturally, and economically. Hopefully beavers will continue to grow and become an integral part in the fight against erosion, natural disasters, and climate change.
I have a hard time rating this book. Beaverland is well written and deeply researched. Philip really dedicated time to the subject of beaver's history in North America. However, there were certain chapters where my interest waned. Particularly those that went in-depth about watersheds and river dynamics. I understand how the beaver is integral to these systems, but I found the writing a little scientific and "dry."
Overall, Beaverland was an informative read about how important the beaver was to landscapes of the past and how they are still important for helping "save" the landscapes of the future. North America was literally shaped by beavers physically, culturally, and economically. Hopefully beavers will continue to grow and become an integral part in the fight against erosion, natural disasters, and climate change.
November 22, 2023
I am a beaver believer
March 21, 2023
Leila Philip becomes interested in beavers when she discovers them living in a pond near her house in Connecticut and when they disappear she is alarmed and wants to find out what could have happened to them. This leads her down the rabbit hole of all things beavers. She never really finds out what happened to her beavers, but does find out a whole LOT about beavers and how helpful they are to the environment.
I really wanted to like this book, but I had to force myself to finish it. Yes, there were some interesting facts and people in the book, but it was pretty dry and not really an engaging read. I read Eager: the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter by Ben Goldfarb a few years ago and LOVED it. He really brought all the beaver information to life and showed just how important they are to the environment especially when it comes to water. Philip tried to do the same, but it just came across very dry and there were lots of chapters with her trekking around with trappers and scientists in the woods. I also felt like she spent WAY too long on trapping and I still couldn't really get a good read on why trappers want to trap instead of hunting. Hunting for food I can totally understand. Trapping for fur I don't and as much as I liked Herb, the trapper she followed, I still think it's a terrible practice. The book wasn't all bad - she had some good points and highlights, but overall it was dry and long and not nearly as engaging as Eager by Goldfarb.
Some quotes I liked:
"But are beavers intelligent creatures? It's a mystery. Throughout history, humans have studied their lodges and dams and canals, their skills at felling and transporting trees, their expertise at engineering. When three or four work together, they can roll a hundred-pound boulder and set it in their dam. Perhaps, like ants and bees, they have a kind of intelligence that we as humans simply cannot fathom." (p. 5)
"Coyote are so adaptive, like beavers, that they disrupt our usual divisions of what is urban and what is rural. Wild animals are supposed to live in the woods, but as coyote and beavers and wolves keep demonstrating, in twenty-first-century North America, they regularly don't...A pair of coyote den in Central Park. Coyote have been photographed riding mass transit in Portland, Oregon, and walking onto Wrigley Field. In Chicago, Dr. Stan Gehrt, who heads up the longest urban coyote research project in the country, has identified a generation of coyote that now teach their young to wait at traffic lights and avoid eating rats, saving the coyote from getting hit by cars and from ingesting fatal doses of rat poison." (p. 62-63)
"Geologist Dr. Ellen Wohl, who studies beaver meadows and river systems in Colorado, calls the years from 1600 to 1900 - essentially the three hundred years of the fur trade - the 'great drying.' Once beavers were gone from forested headwaters, and everywhere else, not only did the wetlands dry up, but the very shape and function of riverine systems changed. Scientists now estimate that more than 80 percent of the riverside marshes, swamps, lakes, ponds, and floodplain forests of North America and Europe have disappeared." (p. 166)
"When flooding occurs, beaver meadows serve to absorb the floodwater, lessening the force of the current and thus its ability to scour the landscape, washing critical soils away. When there is no rain and rising temperatures cause plants and trees to lose even more water through transpiration, resulting in severe drought, beaver meadows serve as secret caches of water that keep a river system from completely drying up." (p. 169)
"Grace Bush's work [in the Chesapeake Bay area] supported what researchers in other states and Canada were discovering - the removal of beavers during the fur trade, then the decades of deforestation, coupled with massive draining of wetlands to harness waterpower and for agriculture - had greatly contributed to many of the environmental problems we were now struggling to address." (p. 239-40)
"Beavers may have a new role in twenty-first-century North America; they are fast becoming the stars of what is now called 'wildlife recreation' because they are fun to watch. And they will not run off with your cat like a coyote, or eat your chickens like bobcats and raccoons, and they won't devour your garden like deer, rabbits, and woodchucks." (p. 249-50)
I really wanted to like this book, but I had to force myself to finish it. Yes, there were some interesting facts and people in the book, but it was pretty dry and not really an engaging read. I read Eager: the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter by Ben Goldfarb a few years ago and LOVED it. He really brought all the beaver information to life and showed just how important they are to the environment especially when it comes to water. Philip tried to do the same, but it just came across very dry and there were lots of chapters with her trekking around with trappers and scientists in the woods. I also felt like she spent WAY too long on trapping and I still couldn't really get a good read on why trappers want to trap instead of hunting. Hunting for food I can totally understand. Trapping for fur I don't and as much as I liked Herb, the trapper she followed, I still think it's a terrible practice. The book wasn't all bad - she had some good points and highlights, but overall it was dry and long and not nearly as engaging as Eager by Goldfarb.
Some quotes I liked:
"But are beavers intelligent creatures? It's a mystery. Throughout history, humans have studied their lodges and dams and canals, their skills at felling and transporting trees, their expertise at engineering. When three or four work together, they can roll a hundred-pound boulder and set it in their dam. Perhaps, like ants and bees, they have a kind of intelligence that we as humans simply cannot fathom." (p. 5)
"Coyote are so adaptive, like beavers, that they disrupt our usual divisions of what is urban and what is rural. Wild animals are supposed to live in the woods, but as coyote and beavers and wolves keep demonstrating, in twenty-first-century North America, they regularly don't...A pair of coyote den in Central Park. Coyote have been photographed riding mass transit in Portland, Oregon, and walking onto Wrigley Field. In Chicago, Dr. Stan Gehrt, who heads up the longest urban coyote research project in the country, has identified a generation of coyote that now teach their young to wait at traffic lights and avoid eating rats, saving the coyote from getting hit by cars and from ingesting fatal doses of rat poison." (p. 62-63)
"Geologist Dr. Ellen Wohl, who studies beaver meadows and river systems in Colorado, calls the years from 1600 to 1900 - essentially the three hundred years of the fur trade - the 'great drying.' Once beavers were gone from forested headwaters, and everywhere else, not only did the wetlands dry up, but the very shape and function of riverine systems changed. Scientists now estimate that more than 80 percent of the riverside marshes, swamps, lakes, ponds, and floodplain forests of North America and Europe have disappeared." (p. 166)
"When flooding occurs, beaver meadows serve to absorb the floodwater, lessening the force of the current and thus its ability to scour the landscape, washing critical soils away. When there is no rain and rising temperatures cause plants and trees to lose even more water through transpiration, resulting in severe drought, beaver meadows serve as secret caches of water that keep a river system from completely drying up." (p. 169)
"Grace Bush's work [in the Chesapeake Bay area] supported what researchers in other states and Canada were discovering - the removal of beavers during the fur trade, then the decades of deforestation, coupled with massive draining of wetlands to harness waterpower and for agriculture - had greatly contributed to many of the environmental problems we were now struggling to address." (p. 239-40)
"Beavers may have a new role in twenty-first-century North America; they are fast becoming the stars of what is now called 'wildlife recreation' because they are fun to watch. And they will not run off with your cat like a coyote, or eat your chickens like bobcats and raccoons, and they won't devour your garden like deer, rabbits, and woodchucks." (p. 249-50)
Read
December 16, 2022Recently I visited a park where I often go, and noticed for the first time the marks of trees gnawed by beavers. I had never before seen signs of beavers, and I have been going there several years. The beavers had obviously just moved in. I was excited. An area that supports wild animals has to be a healthy ecosystem. But I was also sad because the beavers were cutting down the trees, including some that the city had planted. Aren’t we trying to save the environment by growing more trees? Are beavers good, or are beavers bad? I picked up this book in an attempt to find out more.
The author had a similar journey. She had a beaver pond near her house in Connecticut, and she used to go and watch the beavers. She had questions, and she set out looking for answers. Her search took her across the country. She read a long list of books, and interviewed a long list of people. She followed most of them out into the field, sometimes wearing rubber wading boots.
This book ranged farther afield than I expected. She recounted the rise of John Jacob Astor, who became one of the richest men in America through the fur trade, initially in the trade of beaver pelts, and how the animals were hunted until they disappeared from much of their range. She told about a woman named Dorothy Richards, who lived with beavers in her house. It turns out the house is still there, although abandoned. Author Philip visited it, and talked to people who had known “the crazy beaver lady.”
She (Philip) followed in the footsteps of a modern-day fur trapper. She learned to spot the signs of beaver activity in the wild. She witnessed the process of preparing the pelts, and tried her hand at scraping the skin. She went to the fur auction, where pelts of coyote, muskrat, opossum, bear, and mink were traded along with beaver. The world of fur trapping is a complex web of government restrictions, changing public opinions, and a traditional mythos of frontier masculinity. Trappers say that culling excess numbers prevents disease and starvation among wild animal populations.
Philips follows a river geologist in exploring the ways that beavers change river systems. She follows people whose business it is to deal with “nuisance” beavers, who are flooding people’s houses and yards. It isn’t always necessary to remove the animals. A “pond leveler” can be installed, which allows the height of the pond to be controlled, without driving the beavers out.
She explores Native American traditions surrounding the beaver. She visits some of the oldest and biggest beaver dams in the country, which can be seen by satellite. She explores the history of her home town in New England, and the conflict between the white settlers and the Indigenous peoples, and the ecological damage done by English-style agriculture.
Along the way, I did get answers to most of my questions. In general, beavers are good for an ecosystem because they increase biodiversity. Their ponds draw a greater variety of birds and fish and aquatic plants. An undammed stream, which runs like a channel straight to the ocean tends to wash the topsoil away with it. Beaver ponds, by slowing water down, allow the sediments to settle out. When the beavers are done with their pond, the soil left behind will be rich and fertile. Keeping the water in place, as opposed to rushing downstream, allows it to sink in and replenish the water table, counteracting drought. Somewhat paradoxically, beavers are also supposed to help with storm flooding. I’m a little fuzzy on how that works. I think that a beaver altered landscape allows water somewhere to go, as opposed to a hard landscape, where the water can’t soak in, so it just runs everywhere.
As for the cutting down of trees, yes, well, we love trees, but there are species that need other environments to thrive. One of our local parks has recently complained about this, that the succession of trees in their meadow was limiting the habitat for their grassland loving birds. There are going to be conflicts between beavers and humans, but some of the people in this book are looking for evidence-based solutions instead of acting on our old assumptions, and instead of jumping to the killing/trapping answer.
The author had a similar journey. She had a beaver pond near her house in Connecticut, and she used to go and watch the beavers. She had questions, and she set out looking for answers. Her search took her across the country. She read a long list of books, and interviewed a long list of people. She followed most of them out into the field, sometimes wearing rubber wading boots.
This book ranged farther afield than I expected. She recounted the rise of John Jacob Astor, who became one of the richest men in America through the fur trade, initially in the trade of beaver pelts, and how the animals were hunted until they disappeared from much of their range. She told about a woman named Dorothy Richards, who lived with beavers in her house. It turns out the house is still there, although abandoned. Author Philip visited it, and talked to people who had known “the crazy beaver lady.”
She (Philip) followed in the footsteps of a modern-day fur trapper. She learned to spot the signs of beaver activity in the wild. She witnessed the process of preparing the pelts, and tried her hand at scraping the skin. She went to the fur auction, where pelts of coyote, muskrat, opossum, bear, and mink were traded along with beaver. The world of fur trapping is a complex web of government restrictions, changing public opinions, and a traditional mythos of frontier masculinity. Trappers say that culling excess numbers prevents disease and starvation among wild animal populations.
Philips follows a river geologist in exploring the ways that beavers change river systems. She follows people whose business it is to deal with “nuisance” beavers, who are flooding people’s houses and yards. It isn’t always necessary to remove the animals. A “pond leveler” can be installed, which allows the height of the pond to be controlled, without driving the beavers out.
She explores Native American traditions surrounding the beaver. She visits some of the oldest and biggest beaver dams in the country, which can be seen by satellite. She explores the history of her home town in New England, and the conflict between the white settlers and the Indigenous peoples, and the ecological damage done by English-style agriculture.
Along the way, I did get answers to most of my questions. In general, beavers are good for an ecosystem because they increase biodiversity. Their ponds draw a greater variety of birds and fish and aquatic plants. An undammed stream, which runs like a channel straight to the ocean tends to wash the topsoil away with it. Beaver ponds, by slowing water down, allow the sediments to settle out. When the beavers are done with their pond, the soil left behind will be rich and fertile. Keeping the water in place, as opposed to rushing downstream, allows it to sink in and replenish the water table, counteracting drought. Somewhat paradoxically, beavers are also supposed to help with storm flooding. I’m a little fuzzy on how that works. I think that a beaver altered landscape allows water somewhere to go, as opposed to a hard landscape, where the water can’t soak in, so it just runs everywhere.
As for the cutting down of trees, yes, well, we love trees, but there are species that need other environments to thrive. One of our local parks has recently complained about this, that the succession of trees in their meadow was limiting the habitat for their grassland loving birds. There are going to be conflicts between beavers and humans, but some of the people in this book are looking for evidence-based solutions instead of acting on our old assumptions, and instead of jumping to the killing/trapping answer.
February 10, 2025
Five Word Review: Unlike beaver dams, inorganically structured.
March 11, 2023
I enjoyed all aspects of this book. At first I was a bit resistant because of the focus on trapping in the beginning but then enjoyed the historical importance revealed by that focus and willingness to accept the trappers as part of the human ecology around beavers. We can’t just think about the science and natural history of beavers…their home (watershed) and culture around beavers, and importance in the history of our country are necessary to fully understand beavers. I especially appreciated the discussion around using beavers in water management and am now curious about the range of solutions to assuring resilience or our water resources, functional relationships and landscape as climate change progresses.
September 24, 2023
The book definitely scratched my itch for a better understanding of how dope beavers are. However, I wish the book took more of an anthropological, ecological, and beaverlogical(?) dive into beavers. The book primarily traced human interactions with beavers by focusing narrative on interviews and interactions with people who deal with beavers (ie trappers, restoration groups, ecologists) instead of focusing on the richness of beavers themselves.
October 1, 2024
i wanted more beavers
June 16, 2024
This book was way too long and the documentary Beaver Believers (by filmmaker Sarah Koenigsberg) is much better. However, here are some cool facts:
- At least one sports team in every state of the Union has a beaver mascot. More roads, cutoffs, boat launchings, towns, and developments are named after beavers than any other North American animal.
- Beavers carry Giardia lamblia, historically called "beaver fever."
- Prehistoric beavers the size of grizzly bears roamed Asia, Europe, and North America during the last great ice age... they lived alongside saber-toothed tigers, giant sloths, and armadillos as big as Honda sedans; they were part of the group of super-sized animals called megafauna that populated the late Pleistocene.
- As many as 400,000,000 beavers filled the continent of North America before European colonization.... today an estimated 2,000,000 beavers live in North America.
- The largest known beaver dam stretches through the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta. Discovered by satellite imagery in 2007, it spans the forest for 2,790 feet--half a mile long and twice the length of the Hoover Dam.
- If you like raspberry, strawberry, or vanilla ice cream, you have probably eaten beaver castor. If you like strawberry Twizzlers, raspberry soda, raspberry Jello, or any kind of raspberry or strawberry-flavored candy, you definitely have.
- Rivers are not supposed to be like canals (humans have architected them this way so that they do not flood the cities on their banks). In a beaver-river ecology system, a third of the water is impounded in beaver dams, a third takes the form of a beaver meadow (with water dispersed throughout the forest), and a third is flowing freely.
- At least one sports team in every state of the Union has a beaver mascot. More roads, cutoffs, boat launchings, towns, and developments are named after beavers than any other North American animal.
- Beavers carry Giardia lamblia, historically called "beaver fever."
- Prehistoric beavers the size of grizzly bears roamed Asia, Europe, and North America during the last great ice age... they lived alongside saber-toothed tigers, giant sloths, and armadillos as big as Honda sedans; they were part of the group of super-sized animals called megafauna that populated the late Pleistocene.
- As many as 400,000,000 beavers filled the continent of North America before European colonization.... today an estimated 2,000,000 beavers live in North America.
- The largest known beaver dam stretches through the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta. Discovered by satellite imagery in 2007, it spans the forest for 2,790 feet--half a mile long and twice the length of the Hoover Dam.
- If you like raspberry, strawberry, or vanilla ice cream, you have probably eaten beaver castor. If you like strawberry Twizzlers, raspberry soda, raspberry Jello, or any kind of raspberry or strawberry-flavored candy, you definitely have.
- Rivers are not supposed to be like canals (humans have architected them this way so that they do not flood the cities on their banks). In a beaver-river ecology system, a third of the water is impounded in beaver dams, a third takes the form of a beaver meadow (with water dispersed throughout the forest), and a third is flowing freely.
August 4, 2025
If I could, I would rate this book 3.5.
This was a fun, light read. I have always been fascinated with beavers and the history of the fur trade in America. Picking this up at random from Barnes and Noble I am glad I took the chance on it. If I read reviews I may have put it back.
That being said… I did still find similar issues with the book. It repeated itself often. Each chapter was divided into shorter sections and some felt very similar to one another, in language and in content, some editing in the early chapters would have helped. I will say by the half way mark this issue didn’t occur. I wish it went into more history but it didn’t as much as I anticipated. It stuck more closely to beavers themselves, mixing facts with beaver trivia, and their environment. These were the negatives.
What I loved about this book was how well it talked about beavers as builders, their impact on the habitat they live in, how much we’ve lost because of the historical fur trade(trapping still happens legal and otherwise but not anywhere close to the height of fur trade, which devastated the beaver to near extinction), and how the way we live and use rivers today puts us in conflict with beavers.
New studies of beavers and river flow and habit were some of the best parts of this book. It gave a wonderful window into what North America looked like filled with beavers. The rich marshy habitat and how green and growing and tree filled. You see why early explorers thought the natural wealth of this new continent would never end!
As with all micro histories related topics came up that added so much to my own study of American history. Each one I was glad to read about, adding to the greater topic at large.
I am so glad I read this and would recommend to any beaver enthusiasts or anyone concerned about our environment today.
This was a fun, light read. I have always been fascinated with beavers and the history of the fur trade in America. Picking this up at random from Barnes and Noble I am glad I took the chance on it. If I read reviews I may have put it back.
That being said… I did still find similar issues with the book. It repeated itself often. Each chapter was divided into shorter sections and some felt very similar to one another, in language and in content, some editing in the early chapters would have helped. I will say by the half way mark this issue didn’t occur. I wish it went into more history but it didn’t as much as I anticipated. It stuck more closely to beavers themselves, mixing facts with beaver trivia, and their environment. These were the negatives.
What I loved about this book was how well it talked about beavers as builders, their impact on the habitat they live in, how much we’ve lost because of the historical fur trade(trapping still happens legal and otherwise but not anywhere close to the height of fur trade, which devastated the beaver to near extinction), and how the way we live and use rivers today puts us in conflict with beavers.
New studies of beavers and river flow and habit were some of the best parts of this book. It gave a wonderful window into what North America looked like filled with beavers. The rich marshy habitat and how green and growing and tree filled. You see why early explorers thought the natural wealth of this new continent would never end!
As with all micro histories related topics came up that added so much to my own study of American history. Each one I was glad to read about, adding to the greater topic at large.
I am so glad I read this and would recommend to any beaver enthusiasts or anyone concerned about our environment today.
Read
November 29, 2025Learned some fun stuff about beavers and flovial geomorphology (add this to the cool jobs list), and unfortunately for Kerry’s dad this discouraged me even further from waging war on the local beavers ruining their view. Far be it from me to get in the way of such a rad creature. There was plenty in the book that I glossed over and felt it could have done with a pruning, but I did enjoy the scientific parts. Again I dream of what this place must have been like with so much more life around.
March 22, 2023
Over 1/3 of the book was devoted to trapping and the whole fur trapping subculture, waaaay more than was needed for this book. Because the book was front-loaded with such unpleasant material, I almost quit reading; it just seemed endless. But I slogged through it (made it hard to pick up the book again and again) and finally made it to the natural history stuff, and how beavers shape the landscape, all of which was fascinating. I learned a lot about these "weird rodents"! If you're interested in this strange little corner of wildlife, I'd recommend skipping (or skimming) the huge trapping section, and diving straight into the great stuff about the beavers!
December 7, 2023
3.5 stars. All year I have been utterly smitten and fascinated by beavers. I watched & waited for beavers while kayaking and fishing and on walks by the river trying to sneak peeks and learn habits. SO it was about 🦫dam🦫 time I read a book about them!
This book was more reflective that informative for what I sought. However, this was an excellent resource pointing me toward the dozens of other books she references within this one!
This book was more reflective that informative for what I sought. However, this was an excellent resource pointing me toward the dozens of other books she references within this one!
November 20, 2022
Advance readers copy — on sale 12/6. AMAZING book. Wasn’t totally sure what to expect with this one but Philip delivers an enthralling read. Part ecology, part history, part ethnography, Philip’s Beaverland shares the complicated story of beavers roles in American ecosystem and culture. A must read!
January 20, 2025
Made me want to move to New England. Perfect book for scientists, ecologists, anyone interested in wetland architecture, expanding their ideas of what a healthy river is, and watershed enthusiasts!!!! If you just want to learn about fuzzy guys, do not recommend. If you want to GET UP and LEARN about freshwater, do recommend.
December 25, 2022
Terrible bordering on unreadable. Really not even about beavers.
March 3, 2023
Love the animal, wish the author had employed so active an editor.
October 15, 2024
There is a bit about "how one weird rodent made America" and I did learn a few things about the beaver, but this book left me with too many dam holes to fill.
This is a very personal narrative. The author chases the story more through anecdotes than through science. Some of those stories relate to history, and are appreciated - I did learn a few things about the beaver trade and their effect on the environment. I wanted even more, and the book often referred to things not covered. One glaring example is the beaver's reaction to the noise of running water - have heard about that, but the book didn't go any deeper.
I understand Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter is a more informative book, and it certainly has a cooler title - though the author explains the reason for Beaverland. In the end, I was left wanting, and that's not a good feeling. The author has received awards for non-fiction writing, so maybe it's just me. Her other books are more highly rated, though...
This is a very personal narrative. The author chases the story more through anecdotes than through science. Some of those stories relate to history, and are appreciated - I did learn a few things about the beaver trade and their effect on the environment. I wanted even more, and the book often referred to things not covered. One glaring example is the beaver's reaction to the noise of running water - have heard about that, but the book didn't go any deeper.
I understand Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter is a more informative book, and it certainly has a cooler title - though the author explains the reason for Beaverland. In the end, I was left wanting, and that's not a good feeling. The author has received awards for non-fiction writing, so maybe it's just me. Her other books are more highly rated, though...
December 21, 2025
Finally finished this incredible book and just…wow. This not only provides a fascinating history of beavers globally and how economies across the world were built on this animal, it also dives into how freakin cool beavers are and how full ecosystems are truly built on their backs. If that wasn’t enough, I was not expecting to learn so much about trapping, selling hides, and the environmentalist origins of hunting. Phillip navigates tricky waters (literally, trapping and skinning herself) of balancing the varied and contradictory viewpoints of those who dedicate their lives to beavers in one way or another. Rather than taking a reductive and limited stance, she does the work to develop trust with these people across all walks of life to give us incredible insights on all the ways conservation can and does happen. Respect for this creature and developing a relationship with nature is at the heart of this book and I couldn’t recommend it more. Oh and also, I love beavers 🦫 did I mention they were so freaking cool?
March 11, 2023
I definitely have a new appreciation for the incredible beaver and the widespread effects that it can have on the environment, what an interesting book! I could
see how much heart and effort the author put into this work, and appreciated the variety of perspectives and topics relating to beavers that were included. The ending was absolutely beautiful, and I definitely have a new way of thinking about connections to nature because of this book!
see how much heart and effort the author put into this work, and appreciated the variety of perspectives and topics relating to beavers that were included. The ending was absolutely beautiful, and I definitely have a new way of thinking about connections to nature because of this book!
September 1, 2025
After reading this book, I am a beaver believer. Important and surprisingly cute, this book was not at all what I was expecting. It was less factual and more anecdotal than I was anticipating, but I actually quite enjoyed it. The book does get a little dry at times and I did have to push myself through the last third, but overall it was good.
January 24, 2025
This book was definitely interesting, but it’s not very historically-minded. Mostly you follow the author as she meets with contemporary trappers and scientists and learns why they like beavers and what beavers do.
The first coupe of chapters had native legends and some fur-trade history, but that’s pretty much it.
If you want to know more about beavers and people who like beavers, you’ll love this book. If you wanted to know about how beavers impacted the history of America, you’ll just like this book.
The first coupe of chapters had native legends and some fur-trade history, but that’s pretty much it.
If you want to know more about beavers and people who like beavers, you’ll love this book. If you wanted to know about how beavers impacted the history of America, you’ll just like this book.
February 9, 2023
its me.....a beaver believer....
February 7, 2023
I read this one in slower bites, but it’s really a fascinating examination of beavers in the North American landscape. I’ve read a few books on this odd creature now, and this is the first to focus on indigenous and colonial approaches to the beaver, as well as how beavers and their construction projects can help reduce the effects of climate change. Lovely writing.
January 23, 2023
This is a history of the beaver in North America. The author went to great pains to find out all she could about the beaver in order to write this book, including hanging out with a trapper and skinning a beaver. She also visited many beaver ponds with naturalists and scientists and read up on the history of the beaver in American history, as well as the folklore of the beaver as told by Native Americans. There are some fascinating stories in this book as well as a lot of scientific insights. I got a little bogged down (no pun intended) toward the end of the book where the writing is about how beavers can restore the landscape in areas of the country. The epilogue is also an interesting insight into how a non-fiction writer researches a book.
January 3, 2023
Super interesting read that provided a more positive outlook on the ecological change we are experiencing in the Anthropocene but I think the book lacked some continuity. Overall a great read!
December 19, 2022
An interesting mix of the history of the beaver and the role it played in shaping America's economic history, the role the beaver plays in Native American culture, beavers and trappers today, and the beaver and how it might help both teach us and guide some aspects of environmental change in the future. Leila Philip did a good job of balancing the trapper and hunter view and the environmentalist view (even though she admits where her feelings lie, she's admirably evenhanded). I liked the history and Native American culture aspects the best but was very interested in learning about how geologists and other scientists are trying to learn how to work with or imitate beavers to deal with climate change and water issues today.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
April 25, 2024
The cover of this book has the subtitle “How one weird rodent made America,” but in reality, this book does absolutely nothing to explain that. This is a book not about how beavers shaped us, but about how we have shaped beavers.
At its core, though, this is a book about the author. It’s about her experience talking with people about beavers. How it made her feel, about her thoughts, about her life. I bought this book to learn about beavers and history, and instead I was greeted with a thinly veiled memoir.
Would not recommend to anyone.
At its core, though, this is a book about the author. It’s about her experience talking with people about beavers. How it made her feel, about her thoughts, about her life. I bought this book to learn about beavers and history, and instead I was greeted with a thinly veiled memoir.
Would not recommend to anyone.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 449 reviews