By the end of the 19th century, humans finally grasped that industrialization was driving scores of animal species to extinction. From early battles to save the American bison and bald eagle to today's global effort to defend life on a larger scale, Michelle Nijhuis traces the history of the conservationist movement. While praising the efforts of activists Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson, as well as organizations like the Audubon Society and the World Wildlife Fund, Nijhuis confronts the darker side of conservation, long shadowed by racism and colonialism.