cover image A Thinking Person’s Guide to America’s National Parks

A Thinking Person’s Guide to America’s National Parks

Edited by Robert Manning et al. George Braziller, $24.95 (300p) ISBN 978-0-8076-0019-1

The National Parks Service (NPS), celebrating its centennial in 2016, ranges far beyond the well-known Yellowstone and Yosemite to more than 400 national parks from Acadia to Zion, including Women’s Rights, Manzanar, and Big Thicket. Likewise, this provocative, seductively illustrated anthology of 23 essays ranges beyond the radical concept of setting aside land for public use. Denis Galvin, who’s worked for NPS for 38 years, writes that “its job is to illuminate this landscape.” Beyond that, however, the NPS mission, which began with stunning scenery, now includes revealing controversial history and encouraging both physical and spiritual recreation. The essayists consider the nation’s history and that of the NPS itself, including the negative sides of both. John Maounis writes of the “Treasures of the Nation”; Dwight Pitcaithley and Rolf Diamant address the difficulties of interpreting the Civil War and the civil rights movement; and Melia Lane-Kamahele speaks about incorporating indigenous voices and seeking out collaboration within local and national communities, specifically her native Hawaiian community. Some essays clunk with clichés and lists, but the final entries—covering communities and partnerships, new park resources, and the next 100 years—soar with thought-provoking content. (Apr.)