Alaska History: An Annotated Bibliography Book

Schullery's book is both scholarly and entertaining. I feel like I'm beginning to grasp and understand Yellowstone's complex history. This book looks at the evolution of the park, and the Greater Yellowstone area, through the lens of its ecology. While Schullery discusses both flora and fauna, he is weighted towards the fauna, probably because animals such as the elk, bear, bison, and wolves have such a strong economic and political impact on Yellowstone's development.

Schullery's writing is fluid and readable, a rare quality in a book that is also a well researched history. Reading some of the episodes from Yellowstone's past, I couldn't help but imagine that they would make great Westerns.

I appreciated Schullery's objectivity when it comes to the political questions surrounding Yellowstone. He dissects the arguments of everyone, from anti-environmentaltist Alston Chase, to the bear-watching Craigheads. Nobody is spared a critical examination. His perspective is more scientific than political, which means that he acknowledges the flexible nature of ecological models. In the end, I felt a strong sense of ridiculousness concerning the ego with which people impact what they think is the right way to manage the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

I'm ready to continue my own search for Yellowstone, and when I return to it I'll have a greater appreciation for the the place.