Conservation History

John Muir is regarded as the "father of America's national parks" and is a towering figure in the history of that country's involvement with ecology. This wonderful memoir pays tribute to a giant of ecology and is essential listening for lovers of natural history.

A new edition of David Attenborough’s groundbreaking Life on Earth. Winner of Best Non-Fiction Audiobook at the New York Radio Awards 2019. Shortlisted for Best Audiobook at the Specsavers National Book Awards 2018. Shortlisted for Futurebook of the Year at the Futurebook Awards 2018. The...

Discover the vibrant and complex story of the Sunshine State in Sunshine Chronicles: A History of Florida. From its Indigenous roots and Spanish conquests to its role as a modern hub of innovation and diversity, this book explores Florida’s rich history and ever-evolving identity. Journey through the state’s defining moments: the rise of St. Augustine, the Seminole Wars, and the Civil War; the excitement of the land booms, the devastation of hurricanes, and the technological triumphs of the Space Race. Learn how visionaries like Henry Flagler and daring astronauts helped shape ...

From the host of the Travel Channel’s “The Wild Within.” A hunt for the American buffalo—an adventurous, fascinating examination of an animal that has haunted the American imagination. In 2005, Steven Rinella won a lottery permit to hunt for a wild buffalo, or American bison, in the...

Award-winning author Thom Hatch presents the definitive biography of George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938), who was recognized in his time as "The Father of American Conservation." This book chronicles not only Grinnell's life, but also offers a history of his accomplishments in saving the wildlife and natural resources of this country. A remarkable man, Grinnell was known as a model of intellectual diversity, integrity, and professional dedication. 

In 1932, America faced an economic crisis even more severe than the one it has been experiencing recently. The issue then, as now, was how to address it. When President Franklin Roosevelt came into office, he faced more economic problems than any president since has ever faced, but he came equipped with unique and creative solutions to them.

In THE WORST HARD TIME, Timothy Egan put the environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl at the center of a rich history, told through characters he brought to indelible life. Now he performs the same alchemy with the Big Burn, the largest-ever forest fire in America and the tragedy that cemented...

Everglades Outlaws — The Complete History of Moonshining, Alligator Poaching & Marijuana Smuggling in Florida pulls you into the backcountry at dawn and doesn’t let go. From plume hunters and hidden stills to square grouper drops, cocaine spillover, and today’s eco-crimes, B.j Dellinger tells the full, unvarnished story of how the Glades became a proving ground—for outlaws, for wardens, and for a community learning, sometimes the hard way, to keep a wild place alive. Written like a guide’s best day on the water—fast, vivid, and packed with hard-won know-how—this is narrative ...

In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization and offers listeners a magisterial overview of humanity's energy eras.

A Brief History of the Earth's Climate is an accessible, myth-busting guide to the natural evolution of the Earth's climate over 4.6 billion years, and how and why human-caused global warming and climate change is different and much more dangerous. It covers the major historical climate change processes, as well as recent human-induced climate change and the implications of the COVID pandemic for climate change. It is an essential listen for everyone who is looking to understand what drives climate change, counter skeptics and deniers, and take action on the climate emergency.

In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America's lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of "Beaver Believers" recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them.

The world is changing at a relentless pace. How can we slow down and act from a place of respect for all living things? The Sacred Balance shows us how.

A vivid, searching journey into California's capture of water and soil—the epic story of a people's defiance of nature and the wonders, and ruin, it has wrought Mark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers, a writer with deep ties to the land who has watched the battles over water...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER 2022 Winner of the Golden Poppy Award for Nonfiction (California Independent Booksellers Alliance) A revelatory, urgent narrative with national implications, exploring the decline of California’s largest utility company that led to countless wildfires — including the one...

The USA Today bestselling author of The Midwife of Hope River returns with a heartfelt sequel, a novel teeming with life and full of humor and warmth, one that celebrates the human spirit. The Great Depression has hit West Virginia hard. Men are out of work; women struggle to feed hungry...

The third and final updated edition of David Attenborough’s classic Life trilogy. Life on Earth covered evolution, Living Planet , ecology, and now The Trials of Life tackles ethology, the study of how animals behave. ‘This is, quite simply, the best thing I’ve ever done.’ Sir David...

Bloomsbury presents Tin Can Coast by Joseph Ogilvy, read by Ryan Wilson. "Powerful nature writing . . . a lively story about the consequences of rapacious capitalism." —LOS ANGELES TIMES "You'll never look at a can of tuna the same way again." —MALCOM HARRIS, nationally bestselling author of...

America’s public lands include more than 600 million acres of forests, plains, mountains, wetlands, deserts, and shorelines. In this book, John Leshy, a leading expert in public lands policy, discusses the key political decisions that led to this, beginning at the very founding of the nation. He traces the emergence of a bipartisan political consensus in favor of the national government holding these vast land areas primarily for recreation, education, and conservation of biodiversity and cultural resources.

Most guidebooks tell you how to skip the line at the Vatican. This one tells you why the line is there in the first place. The Curious Traveler in Rome: 10 Reasons We Can't Stop Visiting the Eternal City isn't a checklist or a glossy photo album. It's a smart, engaging companion for travelers who want to understand what they're seeing. Why do millions flock to the Colosseum every year? How did pilgrimage turn into the world's first tourism industry? What goes on at the Roman Forum today? Why does Rome feel so alive in its chaos, even today? Each chapter explores one of the forces that ...

An exciting, dual-timeline historical novel about the creation of one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings, Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine, and the woman who fought to save it from Nazi destruction during World War II. Milan, 1492: When a 16-year old beauty becomes the mistress of the...