
The Promise of the Grand Canyon
John Wesley Powell's Perilous Journey and His Vision for the American West
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Narrated by:
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Stefan Rudnicki
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By:
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John F. Ross
“A convincing case for Powell’s legacy as a pioneering conservationist.” (The Wall Street Journal)
"A bold study of an eco-visionary at a watershed moment in US history." (Nature)
A timely, thrilling account of the explorer who dared to lead the first successful expedition down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon - and waged a bitterly contested campaign for sustainability in the West.
John Wesley Powell’s first descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869 counts among the most dramatic chapters in American exploration history. When the Canyon spit out the surviving members of the expedition - starving, battered, and nearly naked - they had accomplished what others thought impossible and finished the exploration of continental America that Lewis and Clark had begun almost 70 years before.
With The Promise of the Grand Canyon, John F. Ross tells how that perilous expedition launched the one-armed Civil War hero on the path to becoming the nation’s foremost proponent of environmental sustainability and a powerful, if controversial, visionary for the development of the American West. So much of what he preached - most broadly about land and water stewardship - remains prophetically to the point today.
©2018 John F. Ross (P)2018 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Ross tells Powell’s story powerfully, sprinkled with quotes from the explorer-geologist’s diary and a feeling of dramatic suspense - will he survive? - even though we know the outcome." (The Washington Post)
"A convincing case for Powell’s legacy as a pioneering conservationist who maintained, ahead of his time and to no avail, that future settlement of the West must take into account the region’s essential aridity." (The Wall Street Journal)
"A bold study of an eco-visionary at a watershed moment in US history." (Nature)
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Powell: hero, scientist, climatologist, visionary
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Rollicking adventure
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Mislead title
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Wisely admits reading today’s papers about water resources climate change and “science incredulity” have not changed
Sometimes overwhelming biographical threads that made a library copy of the book very helpful to follow.
History repeats
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About John Wesley Powell not so much the G.C.
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Intro into the settlement of The West
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Fine addition to the Powell story
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A Man and Story for the Ages
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Compelling bio of Powell
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Superb History, but a bit too detailed.
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