"I think there is an element of the sacred in the beaver," observes Leila Philip, "if only in its deep weirdness." Beginning with the early trans-Atlantic trade in North America, Philip traces the beaver's profound influence on our nation's early economy and western expansion, as its pelts generated our first corporations and multi-millionaires. While recounting the amazing comeback of this once-endangered creature, Philip also chronicles the beavers' impact upon a wide assortment of scientists, fur trappers, Native American vigilantes, and the activists known as "beaver believers."