Two naturalists describe how a battle to save the elephants of Africa turned into a fight for their lives when commercial poachers heard of their work.

John Muir first saw Alaska in 1879, only twelve years after it was purchased from Russia by the United States. Four more times, in 1880, 1881, 1890, and 1899, he was drawn back to this land of rivers and glaciers, sunsets and northern lights, campfires and Arctic stars. Few people have lived so many adventures, yet Muir was not a mere collector of adventure; the hazards he encountered -- and many were spine-tingling -- came as a result of his intense...

Renowned environmental historian Philip L. Fradkin reveals the Wallace Stegner behind the literary legacy--a generous teacher, conservationist, and man whose early landscapes shaped his life and character. Fradkin chronicles Stegner's formative years, from the raw, desolate plains of Saskatchewan and the canyonlands of Utah to California's Silicon Valley. A lifelong teacher and environmentalist, Stegner inspired countless writers and defended the...

John Muir was the founder of the U.S. National Parks and a towering figure in the history of that country's involvement with ecology. Born into a harsh home in Dunbar, Scotland, he would often escape to revel in the birds and wildlife of the area. When his father suddenly uprooted the family and moved to the United States, the oppression he associated with his childhood continued — and so did his involvement with the natural world. Despite the difficulty...

"Brinkley pays tribute to those who combated the mauling of the natural world in the Long Sixties: Rachel Carson, ... David Brower, ... Barry Commoner, ... Coretta Scott King, ... Stewart Udall, ... William O. Douglas, ... Cesar Chavez, ... and other crusaders are profiled. ... [Carson's book Silent Spring] launched an ecological revolution that inspired such landmark legislation as the Wilderness Act (1964), the Clean Air Acts (1963 and 1970),...

John Muir recounts his early travels in the Sierra while working as a shepherd. In the summer of 1869, Muir set out from California's Central Valley with a flock of 2,050 sheep and made his way to the headwaters of the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers.