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
recentadditions 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 enduringideals 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.
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