In the tradition of Peter Matthiessen's Wildlife in America or Aldo Leopold, Brenda Peterson tells the 300-year history of wild wolves in America. It is also our own history, seen through our relationship with wolves. The earliest Americans revered them. Settlers zealously exterminated them. Now, scientists, writers, and ordinary citizens are fighting to bring them back to the wild. Peterson, an eloquent voice in the battle for twenty years, makes the powerful case that without wolves, not only will our whole ecology unravel, but we'll lose much of our national soul. "A gem. Brenda Peterson reveals the complex, social, emotional, and moral lives of wolves, their strong family bonds, and their interminable struggle to return to their native wild lands, against all odds. Her stories of individual animals, including OR7 and Yellowstone's most famous wolf, the matriarch 067, show wolves as real characters, with tragedies, a passion for play, family trees, and new generations that give hope for wolf recovery in America. You will never look at wolves in the same way after reading this outstanding and compassionate book." Marc Bekoff, Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals and The Animal's Agenda "Brenda Peterson grounds her book about the conservation and ecology of wild wolves in meticulous environmental history and rigorous science and then lifts her voice in a gorgeous, powerful paean to this iconic species, essential if we are to restore whole ecosystems and human hearts. She has the courage to tell stories that need telling, and the literary brilliance to captivate readers, from the first to the last spellbinding chapter." Christina Eisenberg, The Wolf's Tooth " WOLF NATION is the most original writing on these iconic canids I've read in decades. Brenda Peterson's seamless weave of science and story never fails to surprise and delight. Her chapter "Wolf Music" is particularly breathtaking; it will transform your thinking about both music and wolves. Read this gorgeous, mind-blowing book and prepare to become an ardent advocate for co-existence with animals who turn out to be more like us than most people would have dared imagine." Sy Montgomery, Soul of an Octopus "The most hated, most loved animals on the continent, wolves have been revered by Native Americans but reviled by settlers and ranchers. Wolves are just wolves to wolves, but we cannot decide who wolves are to us. This, their wonderfully crafted story, may help us decide." --Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel "Brenda Peterson's passion for America's wolves howls from the pages of this splendid book--a thorough telling of the canines' history, ecology, and fight for survival." --Jennifer Holland, author of bestselling UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIPS series Since 1993, when I covered the Alaska Wolf Summit for the Seattle Times , I've written about wolf issues in national media--from the 1995 reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone to the political backlash against wolves that included state-sanctioned wolf hunts in the Rockies and Great Lakes to the wolf recovery particularly welcomed in Western States like California and Washington. WOLF NATION is the natural history companion book to the bestselling photo-essay book WOLF HAVEN . WOLF NATION 's science, history, and gripping narrative bring to life the centuries-long battle to save america's keystone species. Wolves are both the most misunderstood and maligned of animals and at the same time among the most majestic and mysterious. We still hunt them, and they hunt us by haunting our imaginations. Science along will not restore them to their rightful habitat. Here are new stories of the wolf-human bond, a new history that embraces wolves not as enemies but as mirrors, allies, and good neighbors who help us balance and restore health to our ecosystems. Here are stories of wolves followed as passionated as rock stars, wolves as tragic heroes and picaresque, even playful characters, trying to endure against great odds. Although they are fascinating research subjects, they are also individuals with names, histories, family trees, and emerging generations.Why do we need wild wolves? Because they help us heal our natural world, because humans and wolves have always belonged together. We are top predators, partners, fellow survivors. Brenda Peterson is the author of eighteen books, including the novel Duck and Cover , which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and I Want to Be Left Behind , selected by the Christian Science Monitor among the Top Ten Best Non-Fiction Books of 2010. Her most recent work, Your Life Is a Book , was a monthly Oprah book club selection. Peterson's work has appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle , and she has contributed environmental commentary to Seattle NPR stations and on animal and environmental issues for the Huffington Post. She lives in Seattle on the shores of Salish Sea.