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The National Parks

America's Best Idea

Author Dayton Duncan, Ken Burns
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Best Seller
Hardcover
$65.00 US
Knopf
9.3"W x 11"H x 1.1"D  
On sale Sep 08, 2009 | 432 Pages | 9780307268969
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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The companion volume to the twelve-hour PBS series from the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Civil War, Baseball, and The War

America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. In this evocative and lavishly illustrated narrative, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan delve into the history of the park idea, from the first sighting by white men in 1851 of the valley that would become Yosemite and the creation of the world’s first national park at Yellowstone in 1872, through the most recent additions to a system that now encompasses nearly four hundred sites and 84 million acres.

The authors recount the adventures, mythmaking, and intense political battles behind the evolution of the park system, and the enduring ideals that fostered its growth. They capture the importance and splendors of the individual parks: from Haleakala in Hawaii to Acadia in Maine, from Denali in Alaska to the Everglades in Florida, from Glacier in Montana to Big Bend in Texas. And they introduce us to a diverse cast of compelling characters—both unsung heroes and famous figures such as John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ansel Adams—who have been transformed by these special places and committed themselves to saving them from destruction so that the rest of us could be transformed as well.

The National Parks is a glorious celebration of an essential expression of American democracy.
© Evan Barlow
DAYTON DUNCAN is the author of thirteen other books, including Out West: An American Journey Along the Lewis and Clark Trail. He has worked with Ken Burns as a writer and producer of documentary films for more than thirty years and has won numerous awards, including two Emmy Awards for his work on The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. He lives in Rindge, New Hampshire, and Savannah, Georgia. View titles by Dayton Duncan
© Michael Avedon
KEN BURNS, the producer and director of numerous film series, including Vietnam, The Roosevelts, and The War, founded his own documentary film company, Florentine Films, in 1976. His landmark film The Civil War was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television, and his work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy and Peabody Awards, and two Academy Award nominations. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire. View titles by Ken Burns
Preface
OUR BEST SELVES
A Treasure House of Nature's Superlatives
 
Chapter One
THE SCRIPTURE OF NATURE
Homeland: An Interview with Gerard Baker
 
Chapter Two
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PEOPLE
Transcendence: An Interview with Shelton Johnson
 
Chapter Three
EMPIRE OF GRANDEUR
Stories of Discovery: An Interview with Nevada Barr
 
Chapter Four
GOING HOME
Redefining Beauty: An Interview with Paul Schullery
 
Chapter Five
GREAT NATURE
Democracy at Its Best: An Interview with Juanita Greene
 
Chapter Six
THE MORNING OF CREATION
This Is What We Loved: An Interview with Terry Tempest Williams
 
Afterword
THE BEST DAY
 
Acknowledgments
Selected Bibliography
Index
Illustration Credits
Film Credits
  • WINNER | 2010
    Audie Award for Best Nonfiction Audiobook
  • WINNER | 2010
    Audie Awards
Praise for the PBS series:

“Stunning and restorative, like the parks themselves.” —The New York Times

“A masterful historic document, a vivid portrait of the land set against the stories of those who worked to acquire it and then protect it against those who still would dismantle or compromise it.” —New York Daily News

“Beautiful and erudite...Underneath its wonder, The National Parks is really about how Americans learned (or failed to learn) proper stewardship of nature.” —The Washington Post

About

The companion volume to the twelve-hour PBS series from the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Civil War, Baseball, and The War

America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. In this evocative and lavishly illustrated narrative, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan delve into the history of the park idea, from the first sighting by white men in 1851 of the valley that would become Yosemite and the creation of the world’s first national park at Yellowstone in 1872, through the most recent additions to a system that now encompasses nearly four hundred sites and 84 million acres.

The authors recount the adventures, mythmaking, and intense political battles behind the evolution of the park system, and the enduring ideals that fostered its growth. They capture the importance and splendors of the individual parks: from Haleakala in Hawaii to Acadia in Maine, from Denali in Alaska to the Everglades in Florida, from Glacier in Montana to Big Bend in Texas. And they introduce us to a diverse cast of compelling characters—both unsung heroes and famous figures such as John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ansel Adams—who have been transformed by these special places and committed themselves to saving them from destruction so that the rest of us could be transformed as well.

The National Parks is a glorious celebration of an essential expression of American democracy.

Author

© Evan Barlow
DAYTON DUNCAN is the author of thirteen other books, including Out West: An American Journey Along the Lewis and Clark Trail. He has worked with Ken Burns as a writer and producer of documentary films for more than thirty years and has won numerous awards, including two Emmy Awards for his work on The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. He lives in Rindge, New Hampshire, and Savannah, Georgia. View titles by Dayton Duncan
© Michael Avedon
KEN BURNS, the producer and director of numerous film series, including Vietnam, The Roosevelts, and The War, founded his own documentary film company, Florentine Films, in 1976. His landmark film The Civil War was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television, and his work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy and Peabody Awards, and two Academy Award nominations. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire. View titles by Ken Burns

Table of Contents

Preface
OUR BEST SELVES
A Treasure House of Nature's Superlatives
 
Chapter One
THE SCRIPTURE OF NATURE
Homeland: An Interview with Gerard Baker
 
Chapter Two
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PEOPLE
Transcendence: An Interview with Shelton Johnson
 
Chapter Three
EMPIRE OF GRANDEUR
Stories of Discovery: An Interview with Nevada Barr
 
Chapter Four
GOING HOME
Redefining Beauty: An Interview with Paul Schullery
 
Chapter Five
GREAT NATURE
Democracy at Its Best: An Interview with Juanita Greene
 
Chapter Six
THE MORNING OF CREATION
This Is What We Loved: An Interview with Terry Tempest Williams
 
Afterword
THE BEST DAY
 
Acknowledgments
Selected Bibliography
Index
Illustration Credits
Film Credits

Awards

  • WINNER | 2010
    Audie Award for Best Nonfiction Audiobook
  • WINNER | 2010
    Audie Awards

Praise

Praise for the PBS series:

“Stunning and restorative, like the parks themselves.” —The New York Times

“A masterful historic document, a vivid portrait of the land set against the stories of those who worked to acquire it and then protect it against those who still would dismantle or compromise it.” —New York Daily News

“Beautiful and erudite...Underneath its wonder, The National Parks is really about how Americans learned (or failed to learn) proper stewardship of nature.” —The Washington Post

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