Kent Redford Review for Oryx, The International Journal of Conservation

“Miriam Horn’s book is based on a century of correspondence, notebooks kept by Schaller and his family and countless documents saved through the course of a rich life. Most important amongst these sources was a trove of 70 years’ worth of Schaller’s field journals—more than 20,000 pages now kept in the Yale Peabody Museum. Horn also interviewed George and his wife, Kay, their two sons and four dozen colleagues in 16 countries. The author handles the richness of the material she had available beautifully, using Schaller’s own words to build a picture, which she then expands with perceptiveness, tact and an elegance of phrasing. For such a broad sweep in time and space, the book is remarkably carefully written and edited…

Schaller is much more than a patient student of animal behavior. He is an ardent conservationist who, from his earliest fieldwork under the tutelage of the legendary Olas and Margaret Murie, worked to establish protected areas to help conserve the animals he loved. From laying the groundwork for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to playing an instrumental role in establishing the spectacular Chang Tang (Qiangtang) Nature Reserve on the Tibetan Plateau (the world’s second-largest terrestrial protected area), Schaller was involved in creating parks and reserves throughout the world. Horn stresses that he understood early on that including forest dwellers, nomadic herders and other local and traditional peoples in these parks was a critical part of any success.”

see the full review here>