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A Story That Stands Like a Dam: Glen Canyon and the Struggle for the Soul of the West
Traces the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, describes the controversy surrounding its environmental impact, and discusses its impact on the West
354 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1989
9 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Russell Martin
13 books12 followersRussell Martin directed, wrote, and produced the highly acclaimed and award-winning documentary Beautiful Faces, filmed in Mexico City, which premiered in 2012. He is a producer and co-writer of the award-winning documentary film Two Spirits and an award-winning, internationally published author of two critically acclaimed novels, The Sorrow of Archaeology and Beautiful Islands, as well as many nonfiction books. He has written for Time, the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, and National Public Radio.
His nonfiction book Beethoven's Hair, a United States bestseller and a Washington Post Book of the Year, has been published in twenty-one translated editions and is the subject of a Gemini-award-winning film of the same name. His books have been optioned by Robert Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises, the Denver Center Theatre Company, and New World Television. He is, says Kirkus Reviews, “first and foremost a masterful storyteller.”
His highly acclaimed book, Picasso's War, has been published in seven international editions; Out of Silence, was named by the Bloomsbury Review as one of fifteen best books of its first fifteen years of publication, and A Story That Stands Like A Dam: Glen Canyon and the Struggle for the Soul of the West, won the Caroline Bancroft History Prize.
When he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Colorado College in 1995, the citation read, in part, “Mr. Martin offers to general audiences precise and accurate, but highly readable, studies of extraordinarily complex issues. He does more: he sees beyond what is already known; he moves beyond synthesis to new insights. His work is disciplined, analytical, and creative. It is also profoundly humane.”
His nonfiction book Beethoven's Hair, a United States bestseller and a Washington Post Book of the Year, has been published in twenty-one translated editions and is the subject of a Gemini-award-winning film of the same name. His books have been optioned by Robert Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises, the Denver Center Theatre Company, and New World Television. He is, says Kirkus Reviews, “first and foremost a masterful storyteller.”
His highly acclaimed book, Picasso's War, has been published in seven international editions; Out of Silence, was named by the Bloomsbury Review as one of fifteen best books of its first fifteen years of publication, and A Story That Stands Like A Dam: Glen Canyon and the Struggle for the Soul of the West, won the Caroline Bancroft History Prize.
When he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Colorado College in 1995, the citation read, in part, “Mr. Martin offers to general audiences precise and accurate, but highly readable, studies of extraordinarily complex issues. He does more: he sees beyond what is already known; he moves beyond synthesis to new insights. His work is disciplined, analytical, and creative. It is also profoundly humane.”
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 24, 2024
Timely read given the water levels in Lakes Mead and Powell are historically low right now, and up in the Pacific NW, dams are being removed. This author has an amazing style that, for example, makes a chapter on mixing and pouring concrete riveting reading even when up late on a sleepless night. The whole book reads like an adventure story. Having also read Wallace Stegner's Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West on Major Powell, it was interesting to pick up here where Stegner leaves off, to see what happened to water policy and management in the West. It will be interesting to see who writes the next chapter, and whether we reconsider endless growth of cities located in the middle of our southwest deserts.
May 31, 2021
I bought this (old, published in 1989) book when my wife and I were doing a whirlwind tour of the Utah national parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce & Zion) in May of 2021.
It is verging on a must-read book for anyone with a little bit of curiosity about how it is that millions of people can actually live in the hot and dry southwest cities (Tucson, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, etc.) The answer of course is that the snow that falls in the Rockies melts and collects in the Colorado River watershed and then gets collected (in the spring) behind the Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell), Hoover Dam (Lake Mead) (and other less famous dams and reservoirs) and then gets pumped to these dry cities year round, mainly using hydro power generated at the dams.
This book touches on the pre-dam history of the area, the building of the Hoover Dam and then devotes most of its 300 pages to the politics, resistance, engineering and construction of the Glen Canyon Dam which was and is very environmentally controversial, despite its obvious utility and benefit to many.
I love big, bodacious projects, so loved Chapter 8 (10 Million Tons of Mud), the meat and potatoes of how the dam was actually built. But each of the other 13 chapters have their merits too, with many devoted to the politics of dam building and the emergence of the conservation movement, which apparently pretty much started in the '60s.
This book is 30 years old. There is a time capsule element to it. The best example is when the author, who I think leans towards conservation (don't leave a mark), spends pages and pages describing the nasty debate over the 2 additional dams that were supposed to be built in the Grand Canyon but never were. Instead of using the hydro power these dams would have generated to pump life giving water to the big Arizona cities, they decided to build a massive coal fired power plant right next to the Glen Canyon dam. Apparently as recently as 30 years ago, Global Warming was not a consideration and a massive coal fired power plant was clearly the better answer to a couple more (relatively small) dams in the Grand Canyon. The author does not comment on this whiff and neither do any of the participants in the debate, even in retrospect.
All in all, a very good book.
It is verging on a must-read book for anyone with a little bit of curiosity about how it is that millions of people can actually live in the hot and dry southwest cities (Tucson, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, etc.) The answer of course is that the snow that falls in the Rockies melts and collects in the Colorado River watershed and then gets collected (in the spring) behind the Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell), Hoover Dam (Lake Mead) (and other less famous dams and reservoirs) and then gets pumped to these dry cities year round, mainly using hydro power generated at the dams.
This book touches on the pre-dam history of the area, the building of the Hoover Dam and then devotes most of its 300 pages to the politics, resistance, engineering and construction of the Glen Canyon Dam which was and is very environmentally controversial, despite its obvious utility and benefit to many.
I love big, bodacious projects, so loved Chapter 8 (10 Million Tons of Mud), the meat and potatoes of how the dam was actually built. But each of the other 13 chapters have their merits too, with many devoted to the politics of dam building and the emergence of the conservation movement, which apparently pretty much started in the '60s.
This book is 30 years old. There is a time capsule element to it. The best example is when the author, who I think leans towards conservation (don't leave a mark), spends pages and pages describing the nasty debate over the 2 additional dams that were supposed to be built in the Grand Canyon but never were. Instead of using the hydro power these dams would have generated to pump life giving water to the big Arizona cities, they decided to build a massive coal fired power plant right next to the Glen Canyon dam. Apparently as recently as 30 years ago, Global Warming was not a consideration and a massive coal fired power plant was clearly the better answer to a couple more (relatively small) dams in the Grand Canyon. The author does not comment on this whiff and neither do any of the participants in the debate, even in retrospect.
All in all, a very good book.
August 2, 2022
A solid read on the history of the Glen Canyon dam, "A Story That Stands Like a Dam" documents the tribulations, politics, and process of the fight for - or against - the creation of this massive piece of infrastructure. It does a good job of following the various characters involved in the proposal, construction, and protest against the dam in a relatively engaging way, which is impressive given the sheer number of folks involved.
The themes are relatively expected, albeit still quite interesting. Martin does a great job of capturing the various debates over what counts as 'nature' and worth venerating/preserving (e.g., the ongoing thread of the lake and recreational area that would be created with the dam, versus the original canyon that would be submerged), as well as typical tensions around access versus preservation. He also does a good job of showing us the interplay between the social and the political, ranging from the way the dam shaped the community of Page, Arizona, to the tensions that the primary leader of anti-dam sentiments faced within his own organizations (the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth), where he was condemned for being both to direct and too passive in his opposition to the dam.
The book also does a great job of capturing the ways that the US government uses the courts, budgets, and bureaucracy to undermine efforts to protect the environment. At issue is the protection of a park, which the legislation said would clearly be kept safe from any inundation... and yet ends up being sacrificed through a combination of intentional slow-rolling of any efforts to protect it and eventually using the courts to rule the protection unnecessary.
All told, it's a pretty good book. I found The Emerald Mile to be a little more engaging on a similar topic, but wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one as well if you have an interest in the American Southwest or major infrastructure projects.
The themes are relatively expected, albeit still quite interesting. Martin does a great job of capturing the various debates over what counts as 'nature' and worth venerating/preserving (e.g., the ongoing thread of the lake and recreational area that would be created with the dam, versus the original canyon that would be submerged), as well as typical tensions around access versus preservation. He also does a good job of showing us the interplay between the social and the political, ranging from the way the dam shaped the community of Page, Arizona, to the tensions that the primary leader of anti-dam sentiments faced within his own organizations (the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth), where he was condemned for being both to direct and too passive in his opposition to the dam.
The book also does a great job of capturing the ways that the US government uses the courts, budgets, and bureaucracy to undermine efforts to protect the environment. At issue is the protection of a park, which the legislation said would clearly be kept safe from any inundation... and yet ends up being sacrificed through a combination of intentional slow-rolling of any efforts to protect it and eventually using the courts to rule the protection unnecessary.
All told, it's a pretty good book. I found The Emerald Mile to be a little more engaging on a similar topic, but wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one as well if you have an interest in the American Southwest or major infrastructure projects.
June 9, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. It tells the story of how Glen Canyon was dammed in the late 1950's and early 1960's and created Lake Powell. The book describes all the political nonsense that went along with getting the dam built as well as the very beginnings of the environmental movement as many individuals and the Sierra Club fought long and hard to keep this dam from being built and drowning this canyon. The Bureau of Reclamation which built this dam actually had plans for two dams in the Grand Canyon! The book also describes in great detail the engineering and construction methods used to build the dam. I made my first of several trips to Lake Powell in 1979. Eight of us rented a houseboat and took along fishing boats and just had a blast. The lake is spectacular beyond words but I can't imagine it being an improvement over the canyon the Colorado River created. If you've ever been to Lake Powell or visited the red rock country in Utah or are interested in how the environmental movement got started I highly recommend reading this book.
February 17, 2025
The story of Glen Canyon Dam marked the end of the great era of western US dam building by Bur Rec. The book does a fine job of describing the main historical characters and the engineering of the dam. The author seems to come from an environmental activist position generally but he tells a true story of this complex endeavor. The reality at the time the book was written was that the conservation and environmental movements were gaining momentum and that the best locations for dams to be built had already been accounted for. Responsible water and resource management needs to guide western US development.
September 24, 2025
An absolutely fascinating read. Russell Martin brings history, politics, and environmental issues together in a way that feels both informative and deeply engaging. The story of the Glen Canyon Dam is more than just engineering—it’s about people, power, and the West itself. I couldn’t put it down.”
March 27, 2018
A coworker handed me this book and said no one should enter into the Glen Canyon Dam debate without having read this. Agreed.
January 19, 2023
The classic history of the construction of Glen Canyon Dam.
July 23, 2008
This book chronicles the history of the Glen Canyon Dam, but more importantly it is a history of our nation's nature-conquering engineering ethic. It is also a terrific insight into the nascent environmental movement and the founding of the Sierra Club. The Glen Canyon Dam--engineering marvel or environmental disaster? Well, both.
November 5, 2011
This is the story of Glen Canyon Dam. And what a fascinating story. The Politics , the environmentalist , the engineering, and the real People involved . This extremely well written book is a must read for anyone who lives in the South west. Where does your water and electricity come from and what price to the environment are you willing to pay for this increasing population.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews