Quotes
“Mr. Clayton writes with clarity, passion, and insight. This story is uneasily relevant to today…and may even provide a template for addressing climate change. We need our own John Muir and Gifford Pinchot.” Wall Street Journal
“A crisply written double biography. Clayton paints vivid portraits of each…[and] their preservation versus conservation debate, which still rages.” Booklist
“In this hybrid biography-history…[Clayton] posits that Muir and Pinchot’s differing approaches, far from causing an irreparable rift, balanced each other out…Readers will share Clayton’s hope that a similar ‘marriage of morality and capability’ can help solve today’s most pressing issues.” Publishers Weekly
“[In] his timely book…Clayton looks at the issue of public lands through the lens of these two, seemingly like-minded men: prophet vs. statesman, a romantic vs. a practical man, and Muir’s moral authority vs. Pinchot’s tactical genius…Today, Clayton writes, we need a ‘visionary management framework,’ not ‘culture wars.’ A substantial contribution to understanding our environmental past.” Kirkus Reviews