American Serengeti The last big animals of the Great Plains

American Serengeti is a passionate elegy to the American Great Plains and their former fauna. Historian Dan Flores (Univ. of Montana, Missoula) draws deeply from his professional expertise and life as a denizen of this eco-region to create a poetic book that functions as both conservation manifesto and memoir. Writing for a general audience, as well as for students, the author masterfully renders an evocative portrait to elucidate all that has been lost--vast herds of free-ranging antelope and bison, with attendant predators such as wolves, coyotes, and grizzly bears. He interweaves First Nations' cultural perspectives into this compelling narrative. Today's conservation efforts to restore fauna are presented as commendable but resulting in a pale simulacrum of the North American Serengeti that once existed. Flores concludes by highlighting the restoration objectives of the American Prairie Reserve to "rewild" this system, which is the most promising path forward. The book could have used more detail and facts about conservation efforts and ecology. The bibliography that accompanies each chapter is helpful, but standard endnotes would have been more useful for academics and to ground the assertions made by the author. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through upper-division undergraduates. --Cristina Eisenberg, Earthwatch Institute