Red Mars (The Mars Trilogy, Bk. 1)

Mars - the barren, forbidding planet that epitomizes mankind's dreams of space conquest. From the first pioneers who looked back at Earth and saw a small blue star, to the first colonists - hand-picked scientists with the skills necessary to create life from cold desert - Red Mars is the story of a new genesis. It is also the story of how Man must struggle against his own self-destructive mechanisms to achieve his dreams: before he even sets foot on the red planet, factions are forming, tensions are rising and violence is brewing! for civilization can be very uncivilized.