Empire of Shadows

The Epic Story of Yellowstone

By: George Black

Narrated by: Jack de Golia

Empire of Shadows is the epic story of the conquest of Yellowstone, a landscape uninhabited, inaccessible, and shrouded in myth in the aftermath of the Civil War. In a radical reinterpretation of the 19th century West, George Black casts Yellowstone's creation as the culmination of three interwoven strands of history - the passion for exploration, the violence of the Indian Wars, and the "civilizing" of the frontier - and charts its course through the lives of those who sought to lay bare its mysteries: Lt. Gustavus Cheyney Doane, a gifted but tormented cavalryman known as "the man who invented Wonderland"; the ambitious former vigilante leader Nathaniel Langford; scientist Ferdinand Hayden, who brought photographer William Henry Jackson and painter Thomas Moran to Yellowstone; and General Phil Sheridan, Civil War hero and architect of the Indian Wars, who finally succeeded in having the new National Park placed under the protection of the US Cavalry.

George Black's Empire of Shadows is a groundbreaking historical account of the origins of America's majestic national landmark.

©2012 George Black (P)2019 Tantor

Critic reviews

"...a masterful and riveting history of the exploration of Yellowstone. Empire of Shadows will forever change our understanding and conception of this sacred American place." (David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z)

Strange emphasis on Freemasonry

Good, but strange emphasis on Freemasonry. I especially enjoyed the pathos of Doane's life and the Marias Massacre, the tragedies of what might have been.

I want to to Yellowstone again!

This was fascinating, and I’d like to return again with new knowledge of the real history of the park! Well done!

Excellent!

All around good book. A little scattered in the timeline but not enough to lose any part of the rating.

Paints a big picture

I thoroughly enjoyed this large-scale telling of the creation of Yellowstone National Park. From Lewis and Clark, to Custer, to Montana vigilantes, to an array of tribal leaders, to the explorers, trappers, and mountain men who kept “discovering “ Yellowstone, the narrative has an ample cast of characters spanning 100 years. The men who made the world’s first national park each came to life - their strengths, weaknesses, egos, perils and successes and failures. The many story threads often wander and diverge, but always eventually come together, filling in the big picture. The narration was excellent, plain spoken and precise. Fitting. Highly recommend this fascinating history.

Must read before your trip to Yellowstone.

If you a planning a trip to visit the most iconic National Parks in the country soon, or ever, this is a “must” read. Black carries his readers back to a time when the west was just barely coming into existence. With remarkable details and length, the reader walks Yellowstone’s discovery into a full descriptive picture of the park as we know it today. Not just a full historical detail of the park but Black captures the historical sentiment of the time and the unfortunate plight of native Americans from Yellowstone’s discovery. Remarkable, just a remarkable account of its history. I cannot wait to go back and, again, stand where so many of the men he accounts for stood.