Over the past few decades, environmental problems in China have moved from being an issue seen in China as secondary to domestic economic growth and separate from political security to becoming a worldwide concern. Numerous books have appeared in China and the West over that time making dire predictions for China's ecosystems, some of which have come true. Yet we have also seen some levels of improvement and predicted disasters avoided – the latter sometimes by creating ecological problems elsewhere on the planet and sometimes due to new green technologies and retrofitting. Throughout this period, the geographic scale of these problems has expanded to become international. As a consequence of these changes China is now a case study in many environmental courses in other countries. In some cases, there are courses dealing specifically with China's environmental problems.

To date, however, I have not been aware of a textbook in English dealing specifically with China's environment, with the possible exception of Lee Xuhui's Lectures on China's Environment, which is an edited series of lectures. As such, Judy Shapiro's book is a very welcome contribution. The book essentially addresses China's environment from political and legal perspectives, although much of the material could be useful in courses taught in any social studies discipline. There is little that is strictly economic-statistical or scientifically technical here, but the book is nevertheless useful as a supplement to courses that concentrate on those aspects of China's environment. The textbook nature of the book is amplified by sections at the end of each chapter which offer questions for discussion and which give bibliographical references that Shapiro feels are relevant for that topic.

The introductory chapter gives a taste of China's major environmental problems and places the study of social aspects of China's environment within a disciplinary framework. The second chapter presents the framework for the book, suggesting five major drivers of China's environmental politics: globalization, national identity (the views of what China should be), governance (reach of the state), civil society and environmental justice. In truth, while each of these “drivers” alone is a useful analytical tool, they are inherently intertwined. Some of the issues discussed in connection with these drivers also go well beyond what one conventionally considers the environment. National identity in particular goes far beyond China's natural degradation, although Shapiro does a good job at focusing the identity discussion on its relation to the environment. The final chapter is a concluding discussion on China's role in the world's environmental future and what those outside China can do to help ensure that it meets its environmental challenges as best it can.

While the approach is largely political, the book has relevance for courses in disciplines such as anthropology, human geography and sociology. Shapiro incorporates many of her own experiences in China, thereby enriching the text in the process. There is little one can argue with in her choice of drivers of degradation, although a case could be made for the impact of some non-anthropogenic factors even in a politics course. Still, the argument against a top-down environmental system without ability to control corrupting practices on the ground is real and very clearly portrayed. The questions provided for the students to answer are challenging and relevant and the examples used are pertinent. This book should be considered as a valuable source to cover the environment in Chinese politics courses and as an up-to-date text for the political sections of anthropology and geography courses that cover Chinese environmental problems.