NEW YORK — Each year, nearly four million people visit Yellowstone National Park — one of the most popular of all national parks — but few know the fascinating and complex historical context in which it was established. Vividly narrated and illuminating, Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America (Scribner; on sale
March 1) by historian Megan Kate Nelson (author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist The Three-Cornered War) shines a light on the creation of our first national park, and makes clear how frequently the grandest goals of our country precipitate the suffering and subjugation of many who called this land home, and how our most progressive visions can be warped by the reality of the American project.