Stars: 5
Review by: MandyApgar
A very highly recommended account of the complicated history of the conservation movement as it echoed the life of one of our greatest presidents. TR is of course famously pro conservation, yet was an avid hunter of big game animals, and the book goes into a lot of the apparent contradictions in his character to show how they relate to the time period. Roosevelt got so tired of trying again and again to protect certain key sites from developers, oil barons, and the like that eventually he came up with a law that allowed him to preserve them with very little interference and used it with great relish. Many places, such as Grand Canyon, numerous bird sanctuaries, Muir Woods, and others were saved thanks to this and the tireless work of TR's colleagues and supporters in the movement - John Muir, cabinet men, and even his own uncle Robert. Ending with the close of his presidency instead of his life, the book does leave quite a lot unsaid for the field, but for the formative years TR was president there is no better account of environmental policy and protection.
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