Where Mountains Are Nameless: Passion and Politics in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

By Jonathan Waterman and John Waterman

Book Overview

The nineteen-million-acre Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) contains between three and eight billion barrels of crude oil. For the last fifty years conservationists and developers have fought bitterly over the land. Struggling to combat the big-money politics that threaten ANWR, the conservation efforts of one couple, Olaus and Mardy Murie, have made them legendary. Jonathan Waterman blends historical narrative with vivid tales of his journeys into the Arctic, creating tension between past and present, science and politics, reflection and investigation. Where Mountains Are Nameless explores how oil exploration has choked Alaska's pristine wilderness and also traces the lives of the Muries. This memorable portrait makes the stakes over ANWR vividly clear.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393052192
• ISBN13: 9780393052190
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.3" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

If you have to read one book this year, this is the one.

I happened to hear a John Batchelor ABC radio interview of the author after I finished reading this book and Jonathan came across just as eloquently in person as he does in the book. The narrative is not bound by traditional time constraints (on August 2, I went here, and the next day...) and this technique seems to allow a greater sensory awareness versus a more journalistic approach. In fact, I wasn't even aware of it...

Far From a Wasteland

Of course the prospect of drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be fought over forever by know-it-alls from far away who have never been there. The main point of this book by Jonathan Waterman is that the ANWR is far from the barren and lifeless wasteland described by oil proponents, while environmentalists should also learn more about the true nature of the landscape before making big statements...