This America Of Ours, Nate Schweber
This America Of Ours, Nate Schweber
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This America Of Ours
Bernard and Avis DeVoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild

Author: Nate Schweber

Narrator: Fred Sanders

Unabridged: 11 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Mariner Books

Published: 07/05/2022

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

The untold story of the extraordinary fight to defend American wilderness from McCarthyism, and the radical couple who led the charge—and inspired a future of conservation
In late-1940s America, few writers commanded attention like Bernard DeVoto. Alongside his brilliant wife and editor, Avis, DeVoto was a firebrand of American liberty, free speech, and perhaps our greatest national treasure: public lands. But when a corrupt band of lawmakers, led by Senator Pat McCarran, sought to quietly cede millions of acres of national parks and other western lands to logging, mining, and private industry, the DeVotos entered the fight of their lives. Bernard and Avis built a broad grassroots coalition to sound the alarm—from Julia and Paul Child to Ansel Adams, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Alfred Knopf, Adlai Stevenson, and Wallace Stegner—while the very pillars of American democracy, embodied in free and public access to Western lands, hung in the balance. Their dramatic crusade would earn them censorship and blacklisting by Joe McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Roy Cohn, and it even cost Bernard his life.
In This America of Ours, award-winning journalist Nate Schweber uncovers the forgotten story of a progressive alliance that altered the course of twentieth-century history and saved American wilderness—and our country’s most fundamental ideals—from ruin.Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

About Nate Schweber

NATE SCHWEBER is an award-winning journalist for the New York Times and ProPublica, among many other publications. His recent work for the Times includes investigating sexual abuse within the scholastic athletic communities and a 2016 series about murders in the Bronx that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. The Outdoor Writers Association of America awarded him a conservation writing award in 2015. He has also won magazine writing awards from that organization in 2015 and 2018, respectively, for a story about a biologist for the magazine Trout, and a story about prairie conservation for the Anthony Bourdain publication Explore Parts Unknown. He has appeared on Today, CNN, and WNYC. He lives in Brooklyn.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Cherisa on August 12, 2023

This was a great read for multiple reasons. The DeVotos were so interesting and engaged in the world, dedicated to their issues and careers and friendships. The deep friendship between Avis and Julia Child was fascinating to read about. Again the dark boogeyman of America’s 20th century - J Edgar Ho......more

Goodreads review by Brittney on July 13, 2022

This book gave an in-depth look of Bernard DeVoto, who I've never heard about until now, and am glad to now know of him. This was well written and extremely informative. I appreciate Avis, his wife, who seemed to be a rock and part er for her husband. I was pleasantly surprised about Julia Childs be......more

Goodreads review by Gavin on January 22, 2023

Impressive biography of Bernard, whom I knew of from his Western trilogy. Adding in Avis's story was all new on top of Bernard's conservation streak, although that makes sense with his love of the west. Encountering Julia & Paul Child made it a special treat. Meanwhile, it's interesting that McCarra......more

Goodreads review by Drew on July 16, 2022

Received this book in a Goodreads giveaway, and I'm so glad that I did. Nate Schweber gives an in-depth look into the journey of conservation in the United States, as well as key figures that helped pave the way. The DeVotos are, quite frankly, American heroes. Both Bernard and Avis alike were const......more

Goodreads review by Chuck on April 26, 2023

This book is a must read for those interested in the politics of mid-20th century America. The movement in response to TDR and Pinchot was potentially devastating - a lot of politicians wanted to give land right away even when the land was designated public. This tome tells the story of Bernard & Av......more