Whidbey and Camano, two of the largest of the numerous beautiful islands dotting Puget Sound, together form the major part of Island Country. Taking this county as a case study and following its history from Indian times to the present, Richard White explores the complex relationship between human induced environmental change and social change. This new edition of his classic study includes a new preface by the author and a foreword by William Cronon.
Richard White is the author of many acclaimed histories, including the groundbreaking study of the transcontinentals, Railroaded, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Francis Parkman Prize, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is Margaret Byrne Professor of American History, Emeritus, at Stanford University, and lives near Palo Alto, California.
This was my third read through this book, and I still love it. I would have given it 5 stars, but, well, it reads a little like the Ph.D. thesis it is/was (all those supporting facts and tables weigh the work down a bit). This was the first selection of the Whidbey Island Naturalists Bookgroup, and all participants noted that the book changed the way they looked at the island around them. What looks like pristine nature isn't and never was.