The Quiet World: Saving Alaska's Wilderness Kingdom, 1879-1960

The Quiet World is an epic history of the grassroots activists and artists who, with the U.S. federal government, saved vast reaches of wild Alaska from 1879 to 1960. Beginning with naturalist John Muir, who explored the towering glaciers of the Inside Passage, and ending with President Dwight Eisenhower, who created the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Brinkley showcases how extraction industry bigwigs were outfoxed by a colorful gallery of “wilderness believers,” including Bull Moose presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt, indomitable U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, photographer Ansel Adams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Rachel Carson, and many others. Brinkley also details conservationists’ inspiration to protect Alaska’s natural resources for future generations and tells incredible stories of its wildlife.

The Quiet World is an ode to the great Alaskan outdoors, and as we grapple with the perils of global warming and oil spills, it is essential reading.