Thunder on the Plains The Story of the American Buffalo

Ken Robbins tells in words and historical photographs the amazing yet tragic story of a magnificent and truly American creature: the buffalo. It is the story of numbers so vast, it might take days for one herd of buffalo to pass a particular point on the prairie. It is the story of a harmonious, balanced relationship with Native Americans who revered and even worshiped the huge animals that gave them almost everything they needed to survive. And it is the sad story of how, in as little as twenty-five years, reckless and wasteful slaughter at the hands of newly-arrived settlers drove the buffalo to the very brink of extinction. But luckily the story has a somewhat happy ending. The destruction was halted and the number of buffalo has risen again, although the days when a stampeding herd made a sound like thunder on the plains are probably gone forever.

Ken Robbins specializes in photographic nonfiction books on subjects ranging from the Brooklyn Bridge to autumn leaves. His book Tools, with its trademark hand-tinted photographs was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. His books for Atheneum include Fireflies at Midnight by Marilyn Singer, Trucks, Thunder on the Plains, and Apples. Mr. Robbins lives in East Hampton, Long Island.