Review by Choice Review
Brinkley (Rice Univ.) is one of America's most widely read historians. This handsome book is his third contribution to environmental history, following books on Hurricane Katrina (The Great Deluge, 2006) and Theodore Roosevelt (The Wilderness Warrior, 2009). Brinkley draws upon his research on Roosevelt for three chapters. Other chapters are on well-known figures, including John Muir, Aldo Leopold, William Douglas, and lesser-known worthies, including Sandy Macnab, Frederick Vreeland, Celia Hunter, and Virginia Wood--all of whom celebrated America's once-distant frozen territory. The narrative also includes artist Rockwell Kent and Beat authors such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. The drama in this history is the struggle between those who wanted to extract Alaska's coal, gas, oil, minerals, timber, and fish versus those who wanted to save America's last wilderness for future generations. The culmination of Brinkley's story is statehood for Alaska and creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, America's largest. The author's research is thorough, his writing is lucid, his story is compelling, and his illustrations are excellent. Only his map of Alaska is substandard, with tiny print on a dark background. Essential reading for environmental historians and Alaska historians, and a valuable background book for ecology historians. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic, general, and professional audiences. F. N. Egerton emeritus, University of Wisconsin--Parkside
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* When legendary naturalist John Muir began exploring Glacier Bay in 1879, he was unprepared for the sheer poetic depth of the Alaskan wilderness. Twenty years later, Muir joined the Harriman Expedition, which found Alaska to be a unique, untrammeled, sui generis wilderness in need of preservation. Indeed, as soon as the U.S. acquired this magnificent and bountiful land, the war began between those who would recklessly exploit Alaska's natural wealth for profit and those who believed that this was a sacred place to be cherished and protected. Brinkley's scrupulous, dramatic chronicle of the complex struggle to protect Alaska's glorious wilderness and wildlife in the years before it became a state is the second book in what he describes as his lifework, a multivolume history of conservation in America that began with his unique portrait of Theodore Roosevelt, The Wilderness Warrior (2009). Here Roosevelt is one of many colorful visionaries Brinkley vividly portrays, from explorers and scientists (Charles Sheldon, William T. Hornaday) to artists and writers (Rockwell Kent, Walt Disney, Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder) to heroes Olaus and Mardy Murie, who campaigned tirelessly for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Essential to understanding today's environmental challenges, Brinkley's Alaskan history and pantheon of valiant conservationists is boldly original, enlightening, enthralling, and profoundly moving. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Brinkley is an award-winning, highly visible (frequent TV appearances) public historian, and a robust, multifront publicity campaign is planned for this major work.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Vanity Fair contributing editor Brinkley (History/Rice Univ.; The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 2009, etc.) delivers a vigorous, thorough survey of Alaska's natural splendors, from John Muir's first treks into Glacier Bay in 1879 to President Eisenhower's establishment of the Arctic National Wildlife Range in 1960."Seward's Folly" was acquired from the Russians under President Andrew Johnson in 1867 and would soon prove itself much more than a frozen wasteland, as the lucrative markets in coal, minerals, seal and mammal fur, gold and oil would unfurl. However, another trend by eager admirers of the land's natural beauty and abundant wildlife evolved into a powerful preservation movement, thanks to Muir's early writings and the founding of the Sierra Club; the 1899 scientific expedition to Alaska sponsored by Union Pacific Railroad owner E.H. Harriman (many in Alaska were already alarmed by the stripping of its natural resources for industry); and the advocacy for the land and its natives by amateur naturalist Theodore Roosevelt, among numerous others. As president, Roosevelt was the first to articulate a doctrine of conservation, as sketched later by the great environmentalist and writer Aldo Leopold, involving the "wise use" of the land and resources, the necessity of "public responsibility" for their care and the need for science to maintain them. Roosevelt's Bull Moose agenda inspired other progressives like Charles Sheldon, who fought to save the Denali wilderness as part of his work for the U.S. Biological Survey, and William Temple Hornaday, head of the Bronx Zoo and author ofOur Vanishing Wild Life (1913). Brinkley systematically works through the milestones of Alaskan preservation, including the moving paintings by Rockwell Kent and photographs by Ansel Adams, Adolph Murie's fight for the wolves, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas' position as the "leading light of the wilderness movement" during the New Deal, and writings by the Beats such as Gary Snyder.Brinkley skillfully conveys how the natural beauty of Alaska worked its magic.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
