This thoroughly researched and engaging account of the discovery and imaginative creation of Yellowstone National Park is told through the lives of the park's colorful and often tragically egotistic explorers and promoters. Black (editor, OnEarth magazine; The Trout Pool Paradox) rewrites the foundational history of the world's first national park, building on recent works such as Paul Schullery and Lee Whittlesey's History and Myth in the Creation of Yellowstone National Park and Kim Allen Scott's Yellowstone Denied: The Life of Gustavus Cheyney Doane. Waging an irreverent battle against now traditional fakelore, Black particularly emphasizes Native American presence in the region of geysers, hot springs, and the headwaters of the Yellowstone River and the role of Lt. Gustavus Doane's military exploration, which opened the wonderland to international attention. VERDICT Highly recommended for academic and public libraries as an updated history of Yellowstone National Park that casts new light into the deepest shadows of the human side of the park's creation stories.