The National Parks America's Best Idea

This evocative and lavishly illustrated narrative--the companion volume to the 12-hour PBS series--delves into the history of the park idea, from the first sighting by white men in 1851 through to the most recent additions to a system that now encompasses nearly 400 sites and 84 million acres.

Dayton Duncan, writer and producer of The National Parks, is an award-winning author and documentary filmmaker. His nine other books include, with Ken Burns, Horatio’s Drive and Lewis & Clark. He has collaborated on all of Ken Burns’s films for twenty years as a writer, producer, and consultant. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire.

Ken Burns, director and producer of The National Parks, founded his own documentary company, Florentine Films, in 1976. His films include The War, Jazz, Baseball, and The Civil War, which was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television. His work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy and Peabody Awards, and two Academy Award nominations. He received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award in 2008. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire.

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