Overview

The Destruction of the Bison, first published in 2000, explains the decline of the North American bison population from an estimated 30 million in 1800 to fewer than a thousand a century later. In this wide-ranging, interdisciplinary study, Andrew C. Isenberg argues that the cultural and ecological encounter between Native Americans and Euroamericans in the Great Plains was the central cause of the near-extinction of the bison. Cultural and ecological interactions created new types of bison hunters on both sides of the encounter: mounted Indian nomads and Euroamerican industrial hidemen. Together with environmental pressures these hunters nearly extinguished the bison. In the early twentieth century, nostalgia about the very cultural strife which first threatened the bison became, ironically, an important impetus to its preservation.

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9780511549861

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Reviews

'This case study of extinction and the preservation of a species will have a wide appeal.' Library Journal 'Andrew Isenberg's The Destruction of the Bison ... a fascinating tale not least that of the bison's last-minute preservation.' New Scientist 'To be filed in this month's don't-judge-a-book-by-its-title category ... [Isenberg's] impassioned first book is much more than an ecological history of American wildlife.' Publisher's Weekly

'This case study of extinction and the preservation of a species will have a wide appeal.' Library Journal 'Andrew Isenberg's The Destruction of the Bison ... a fascinating tale not least that of the bison's last-minute preservation.' New Scientist 'To be filed in this month's don't-judge-a-book-by-its-title category ... [Isenberg's] impassioned first book is much more than an ecological history of American wildlife.' Publisher's Weekly Thoroughly researched and well-written, The Destruction of the Bison is an example of modern interdisciplinary scholarship that is not only convincing, analytical, and informative, but also a joy to read. This book will prove valuable to the academic specialist, the student, and the general public. American Studies International The Destruction of the Bison is an engaging, well-written, and lucid account of a story that has been told many times, but is only now beginning to be truly understood. Peter S. Alagona, The Professional Geographer Isenberg's well-researched and very readable environmental history provides a more compelling explanation that acknowledges the interaction between a dynamic natural environment and the human societies that inhabited it. Economic History ...elegant....Isenberg has found an impressive array of sources for his history....a detailed, convincing instance of how civilizations expand, it is profoundly instructive. William H. McNeill, The New York Review of Books A well-researched, well-documented book, The Destruction of Bison is, best of all, a compelling read. It has a narrative that sweeps the reader through the two hundred pages quickly. The book is, simply, an engrossing history...the book remains one that students, academics, and many adults would learn from and enjoy. The Destruction of Bison would be a good choice for academic libraries as well as for many public library collections. Highly recommended. E-Streams This case study of extinction and the preservation of a species will have a wide appeal and correlate with such books as Shepard Krech's The Ecological Indian: Myth and History. Recommended for all libraries. Library Journal To be filed in this month's don't-judge-a-book-by-its title category....[Isenberg's] impassioned first book is much more than an ecological history of American wildlife. Publisher's Weekly The book works well as a teaching tool: it reveals complex causation while maintaining clarity and readability. As enviornmental history, the book is extremely satisfying...Isenberg appreciates the dynamism of culture, economy, and environment on the Plains. His treatment of Indian experiences, though overgeneralized, is still subtle and complex. Emily Greenwald, Journal of Interdisciplinary History To be filed in this month's don't-judge-a-book-by-its title category....[Isenberg's] impassioned first book is much more than an ecological history of American wildlife. Publisher's Weekly The Destruction of the Bison is certain to stimulate discussion of its author's conclusions and likely to remain a standard work of enviromental history for years to come. William A. Dobak The National Archives Washington, DC

'This case study of extinction and the preservation of a species will have a wide appeal.' Library Journal 'Andrew Isenberg's The Destruction of the Bison ... a fascinating tale not least that of the bison's last-minute preservation.' New Scientist 'To be filed in this month's don't-judge-a-book-by-its-title category ... [Isenberg's] impassioned first book is much more than an ecological history of American wildlife.' Publisher's Weekly 'The Destruction of the Bison is one of those very rare books that manage to be the definite work on a subject and simultaneously profoundly change how we understand that subject. No one can write about the destruction of America's national mammal - and the peoples who exploited and cared for it - without engaging with Andrew Isenberg's bold masterwork.' Pekka Hamalainen, University of Oxford 'In the nineteenth century, in the short span of a few decades, the great bison herds that defined the Plains for thousands of years almost disappeared. No book illuminates the causes and consequences of that fateful development so eloquently or concisely as Drew Isenberg's essential, classic study, The Destruction of the Bison.' Louis S. Warren, University of California, Davis

Author Information

Andrew C. Isenberg is Professor of History at Temple University. Isenberg's research interests include environmental history, the history of the North American West, the United States from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century, and the encounter between Euroamericans and natives. He is the author of Mining California: An Ecological History (2005) and the editor of The Nature of Cities: Culture, Landscape, and Urban Space (2006).

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