For centuries, Americans have celebrated the bald eagle as majestic and noble, yet savaged the living bird behind their national symbol as a malicious predator of livestock. These birds are monogamous creatures, considered among the animal world's finest parents, but their numbers were badly depleted by hunting and DDT. Telling spectacular stories of Founding Fathers, heroic bird rescuers, and the lives of bald eagles themselves, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf suggests that this bird's resurgence in recent decades can inspire us as we grapple with environmental peril on a larger scale.