<DIV>American scientist and author Rachel Carson is said to have sparked the modern day environmental movement with the publication of <I>Silent Spring</I> in 1962. She made vivid the prospect of life without birdsong. But has her warning been heeded?<BR><BR>Fifty years on, Conor Mark Jameson reflects on the growth of environmentalism since <I>Silent Spring</I> was published. His revealing and engaging tale plots milestone events in conservation, popular culture and political history in the British Isles and beyond, tracing a path through the half century since 'zero hour', 1962. <BR><BR>Around this he weaves his own observations and touching personal experiences, seeking to answer the question: what happened to the birds, and birdsong, and why does it matter?</div>