America's Spectacular National Parks [Hardcover]

Letitia Burns O'Connor (Author), Dana Levy (Author), Michael Duchemin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 9, 1999

The concept of the national park is an American contribution to world civilization, and it remains a defining characteristic of our country. From the rocky shore of Maine's Acadia to the barren crater and lush rain forest of Hawaii's Haleakala, America's national beauty is celebrated and preserved in its national parks. This book retells the history of each park, describes its most important features and wildlife, and reproduces its gorgeous scenery in full-color photographs that will enthrall armchair travelers and entice others to lace up their hiking boots and reach for their sporting gear. Organized by region of the country, it includes well-known parks like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Glacier as well as lesser-known destinations like Shenandoah, Biscayne, and Kenai Fjords.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tish O’Connor studied at Le Sorbonne and the École du Louvre. She is the author of two cultural guides about Los Angeles, as well as the author and editor for many titles in the series of "Spectacular" books. Dana Levy has designed more than 250 books for museums and publishers around the globe. He resides in Southern California where he graduated from the Art Center College of Design. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 132 pages
• Publisher: Universe (March 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0883638487
• ISBN-13: 978-0883638484
• Product Dimensions: 16.2 x 12.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,149,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get it for the photos, January 1, 2011

By 

Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: American Wilderness: The National Parks (Spectacular Midsize) (Hardcover)

This is a coffee-table book about America's national parks. They are grouped into regions, each getting 2-6 pages of treatment. The photographs are beautiful.

The accompanying text adds little, mostly the kind of information you'd get from the park website In addition, there are minor factual errors scattered throughout: Theodore Roosevelt did not create Lassen Volcanic NP in 1916 because Woodrow Wilson was president; Wrangell-St. Elias NP is not 20,000 square miles large; and North Cascades should not be organized in the "Rockies" region but in the "West" with Mount Rainier and Olympic. There's really no reason to goof like this, when the information is easily available on the internet. In addition, the text is printed in a small font that is difficult to read.

I realize that the point of a coffee table book is to have pretty pictures, and this book delivers those. If the authors wanted the book to be a sampler for vacation ideas, maps of the parks would have been helpful. Why have a text if it's lousy and occasionally inaccurate? Just put captions on the photos and you're done.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "To reinvigorate the visitor", November 19, 2008

By 

Linda Bulger (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: America's Spectacular National Parks (Hardcover)

From glaciers to volcanos, from deserts to waterways, the national parks of the United States are a resource belonging to the people. America's Spectacular National Parks is a gorgeous book celebrating our ownership of this resource, and it's a treasure in its own right.

The book begins with a brief history of the acquisition of the parks, beginning with Yellowstone in 1872. How do we keep the parks accessible while curtailing traffic? Has environmental education been successful in shifting public interest "from scenery to science?" What amenities are essential for the comfort of visitors and how do we integrate these needs with the parks' unique ecosystems? Our commitment is won with glorious photography and brief essays about fifty of our parks.

Editors Letitia Burns O'Connor and Dana Levy have organized the book by region from east to west. Each park from Maine's Acadia to Hawaii Volcanoes is featured with a two- to four-page spread by some of the country's most eminent nature photographers, among them Craig Blacklock (The Lake Superior Images), David Muench and Marc Muench (Canticle of the Earth: The Words of Francis of Assisi Celebrated in the Photography of David Muench; California: Portrait of a State (Portrait of a Place)), and Mike Sedam (The Olympic Peninsula: The Grace and Grandeur). There are a number of fold-out panoramas and the color values are breathtaking. If you can't go there, at least experience our wild places with this big, beautiful book.

At 16 x 12 inches and 132 pages, with full photographs on the covers and dustjacket, "National Parks" is a great addition to anyone's "coffee table library." It's a wonderful present -- that's how I got mine, from a good friend, and I love it. Consider yourself invited to remember our heritage; the National Park Service was established by Congress in 1916 with the following stated purpose:

"...To conserve the scenery and the national and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

We and our children are those future generations. Enjoy!

Linda Bulger, 2008

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Coffee Table Book!, December 3, 2008

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: America's Spectacular National Parks (Hardcover)

Wow! Just look at the front cover. Arches National Park. Or the back cover. Yosemite. The book has a simple mission, exemplified by this line at the outset of the book (Page 8): "Travel through these pages and discover the fascinating natural wonders of 'America's Spectacular National Parks.'" An Amazon Friend reviewed this and I could not resist the temptation to purchase this volume. And I'm glad that I did!

This is a classic coffee table book. My trusty tape measure says that this is a 16 inch by 12 inch book. The photography is well done, giving a sense of the grandeur of the nation's national parks. Having seen some of these parks, I must confess that no photo can truly capture the wonder of these places (e.g., The Grand Canyon).

The book itself begins with a bit of the history of the national park system and how it evolved. But the heart of the book is the photos and brief descriptions of each. The organization is straightforward--by geography.

First, the eastern parks. Acadia and Shenandoah and the Great Smoky Mountains. Page 20 features a gorgeous photo of the Smoky Mountains at dawn, with the pink coloration absolutely stunning.

The Midwest? Think of places like the Badlands or Mammoth Caves or Wind Cave. Photos on pages 34-35 illustrate the austere beauty of the Badlands.

The Southwest. . . . Big Bend, Carlsbad Caverns, Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and many more. The photos of Bryce Canyon (pages 56-57) look almost otherworldly. Captivating!

Other regions where national parks are described--Rocky Mountains (Great Basin, Yellowstone, Grand Teton), Alaska (e.g., Glacier Bay, Lake Clark, Katmai), and the West (Death Valley, Yosemite, Crater Lake, Redwoods).

This is a beautiful book and makes any reader realize some of the natural wonders inside the boundaries of the United States. If you want a taste of such beauty, this book will satisfy the reader.