“Sellers’s convincing and nuanced argument places the birthplace of the U.S. environmental movement in the suburbs of its largest cities. . . The accomplishments of Crabgrass Crucible are significant.” — Technology and Culture
“Highlighting the social complexity of the suburban environmental movement, showing its deeply local character, and illuminating changing ideas of nature, Crabgrass Crucible develops a strong argument for environmentalism sprouting in the suburbs.” — American Historical Review
“The real treat of Sellers’s book is his masterful use of oral histories with suburbanites to provide snapshot biographies ranging over class, race, and environment.” — Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
“Crabgrass Crucible covers a broad and important theme with insight, imagination, and literary distinction even while demonstrating enormous research, deep intelligence, and impressive conceptualization. It should be required reading for anyone with a passing interest in suburban, urban, or environmental history.” — Journal of Interdisciplinary History
“Delivering significant insights and fearless observations in spirited prose, it is not only a highly engaging book but also an important one. . . . Exquisite historical detail.” — Environment and History
“A deft scholarly pen flows with accessible prose, and the author’s humanity shines through on every page.” — Social History of Medicine
“Sellers reveals a suburban world filled with nature and with people coming to terms with it in meaningful ways. . . . It is difficult to come away from this book without new insights into environmentalism and mid-twentieth-century suburbs. . . . Not all readers will agree with Sellers' interpretation, but no reader can afford to ignore it.” — Reviews in American History
“The detailed analysis and narrative adopted by Sellers is impressive and convincing. Indeed, while this suburban-environmental relationship remains to be fully understood, Sellers goes a long way in the right direction.” — Journal of Historical Geography
“Seller’s ecological narrative facilitates understanding how ordinary Americans, suffering from and, in some cases, overcoming consumer alienation in residential spaces, tamed nature and tamed themselves.” — Environmental History
“Crabgrass Crucible is an important contribution to the culture of urbanization and to our understanding of how galvanized suburbanites forged a new environmental movement. It should be required reading.” — Pacific Historical Review
