Isolated and ecologically fragile, Alaska has long been a bellwether of environmental change and a battleground for rival visions of how to make best use of its resources. A lifelong Alaskan, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize–winning author of The Whale and the Supercomputer assesses key events in Alaska's history, from Captain John Cook's 1778 landing to the Russian annexation of the region, and from the collapse of the herring industry to the catastrophic crash of the Exxon Valdez. Looking forward, Charles Wohlforth also argues that our own rampant consumerism—rather than corporate greed—is actually the greatest threat to the biosphere, and our own happiness as well.

"[This book] is an important and compelling read. Wohlforth develops critical, unexamined issues about our relationship to nature through the vivid characters and magnificent landscapes of coastal Alaska. You'll be intrigued, and you may be changed."—Robert F. Kennedy, Jr

"The great question—to be settled in the next few decades—is whether 'human nature' will force us to wreck our planet, or whether it will turn out to be the saving grace. Charles Wohlforth doesn't make assumptions—he makes sense. And hopeful sense at that!"—Bill McKibben