At first glance, this looks like just another book about rafting in the Grand Canyon and its rapids. It can be, after all, a life-changing experience and people just feel compelled to write about it. But Gaylord Stavely was not only one of the first people to raft the river; he was there when the entire river-running industry was born, knows all of the history behind the places, and the eccentric people who yearned for the freedom of the river.

At first glance, this looks like just another book about rafting in the Grand Canyon and its rapids. It can be, after all, a life-changing experience and people just want feel compelled to write about it. But Gaylord Stavely was not only one of the first people to raft the river; he was there when the entire river-running industry was born, knows all of the history behind the places, and the eccentric people who yearned for the freedom of the river.

You're planning a trip to Zion National Park in Utah, you plan to do some hiking, and you're wondering which trails to search out.

Despite all the electronic gadetry that allows you to consume media, hard-bound and paperback books continue to hold a considerable marketshare. And more than a few of those titles have something to do with national parks. We read as much as we could this year, and came away with the following reviews for your consideration.

Heading to a national park for the first time can be intimidating. Where should you go, what should you see, what do you need to know before you pass through the entrance gate?

Creating national parks is not a clean, simple process, and that certainly was not the case with Grand Teton National Park, where a little subterfuge was needed to preserve the landscapes millions of visitors enjoy each year.

Yosemite National Park: Past and Present is first and foremost a picture book, each page a mosaic of historic postcards juxtaposed with recent photographs of Yosemite National Park. The book’s key strength lies in the postcards, which offer entertaining and informative glimpses into Yosemite’s past.

There are a lot of photography books about Yosemite National Park, and sometimes it seems like the photographers shoot the same scene from the same place at the same time. Maybe they look for the marks of previous tripods.

Roderick Nash's 5th edition of his seminal work, Wilderness and the American Mind, should serve as a reminder of the underlying value of nature in the raw, a value that shouldn't be trivialized.

The path-breaking beginning of America’s national parks in Yosemite is the subject of these two anniversary-related books. For Dayton Duncan, in Seed of the Future, the Yosemite Grant remains the story of a national triumph. For Jen Huntley, in The Making of Yosemite, the act of June 30, 1864, bears irrefutable evidence of a national theft.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, which means the year-end holidays aren't far off. Still searching for gifts? Consider the following great reads for friends and family.

It would prove to be one of the harshest ironies: American Indians lining up to serve both the Union and Confederate sides in the Civil War, only to have their homelands invaded and taken away in the years following the war.