Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-309) and index.

Tree huggers and tree planters: Amrita Devi, Wangari Maathai, Colleen McCrory, Judi Bari, Harriet Bullitt, Kathryn Fuller -- First lady of environmental science: Ellen Swallow -- Early municipal housekeepers: Caroline Bartlett, Mary Eliza McDowell -- Whistle-blowers under fire: Rachel Carson, Theo Colborn, Mary Sinclair, Dai Qing -- The tide of women's rage: Emma Must, JoAnn Tall, Joan Martin-Brown -- 'Those know-nothing housewives': Lois Gibbs, Cathy Hinds, Michiko Ishimuri -- Combatting death by ecocide: Tatyana Artyomkina, Maria Cherkasova, Maria Gumiânska -- Perseverance and patience pay off: Carol Browner, Janet Gibson, Polly Dyer, Pat Waak -- Casting new models: Gro Harlem Brundtland, Hazel Henderson, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Vandana Shiva, Florence Wambugu, Petra Kelly, Hazel Wolf -- Thinking like a river: Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Marjorie Carr, Christine Jean -- Women and wildlife: Harriet Hemenway, Margaret Murie, Sarah James, Sylvia Earle, Katharine Ordway -- Women and international forums: Bella Abzug. "Mary Joy Breton provides absorbing sketches of more than forty women activists in the Americas, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, and Asia, recounting the special ways in which each stepped out of her traditional role and dedicated her life to saving the planet. Breton interweaves her accounts with narrative on the ecological hazards that drove these women to spearhead various environmental campaigns, examining why and how they challenged, and often defeated, the power structures of government and industry."--BOOK JACKET. "Their courageous efforts illuminate the crucial role of women in the environmental movement and provide inspiration for a new generation of activists."--Jacket.