The World Without Us perspective. Chauncey Mabe of the "South Florida Sun-Sentinel" calls the book "one of the most satisfying environmental books of recent memory, one devoid of self-righteousness, alarmism or tiresome doomsaying". Tom Spears of the CanWest News Service concludes "it's more a portrait of ourselves, taken through an odd lens" and "[s]ometimes an obituary is the best biography". The book is categorized as non-fiction science but some commentators emphasize it may be better described as speculative fiction. "The World Without Us" is grounded in environmental and science journalism. Like other environmental books, it discusses the impact that the human race has had
Benwood, West Virginia the city. Former neighborhoods Harmony Hill was a residential area of Benwood that was located on the hillside between the mouth of Boggs Run and Schad's Crossing (former entrance to the north end of Center Benwood at Fourth Street) along West Virginia Route 2. Kentucky Heights was another residential area located on the hillside along Route 2 between Schad's Crossing at Center Benwood and The Bellaire Bridge. The homes and businesses of both areas were all razed to make way for the relocation of West Virginia Route 2 through the construction of the present four-lane highway in 1966. Benwood was