In a rich, beautifully written memoir, James W. Brooks recalls astonishing adventures of his youth when he lived off the land in the final days of the Territory of Alaska and later became a wildlife biologist and helped write and enforce fish and game laws for the new State of Alaska.
Literally, Brooks lived and worked among the creatures of Alaska, from the walrus and seal habitats of the Bering Sea to the commercial fisheries in the Panhandle, and from the vast waterfowl nesting grounds of the Southwest river deltas to the harsh Arctic home of the polar bear.
Brooks balanced politics and science in dealing with the battles over wildlife management including controversial aerial wolf hunting intended to conserve moose populations that feed many two-legged creatures of Alaska.