“Ogden presents an engaging introduction to the natural history, discovery, and evolution of Yosemite in this concise, handsomely illustrated, octavo-sized volume. . . . With its crisp prose, 100-plus illustrations (most in color), notes, and bibliography, the book helps readers to understand why the area was first protected in 1864 and why it became a national park in the fall of 1890, and remains among the country's most popular national parks. . . . Highly recommended.”

Choice

“Ogden takes in a lungful of classic America in Yosemite. Taking an accessible ramble through its history and geology, it places the park at the centre of the USA’s cultural heartland and changing attitudes.”

Wanderlust

“The author looks at the scientific and cultural history of the area. . . . the book features more than 100 images illustrating Nearpass Ogden’s engaging text, together with sections on the geology, plants, and wildlife found in and around Yosemite.”

Outdoor Photography

"This slim volume offers a concise history of a national icon. Nearpass Ogden’s writing is crisp and clear, with little jargon. The endnotes, although spare, provide a serviceable list of primary and secondary sources on the park. Art historians, as well as historians of the environment or the American West, will find the volume useful. . . . Fusing archive, museum, and internet, Yosemite’s unique source base provides a new methodological lens on a familiar subject."

Guy McClellan, University of New Mexico | Environmental History

“Clear and intelligent writing . . . with instructive sections on geology, plants, and animals, human history, art and literature, tourism, and more. Clearly this is the one book on Yosemite to read and reread. Ogden brings the perspectives of a thoughtful twenty-first-century cultural historian to bear on her subject. Her commentary is most helpful in the chapters that deal with religious and artistic responses to the valley. It is refreshing to have Yosemite placed within the broad context of American ideas and ideals.”

David Robertson, author of "West of Eden: A History of the Art and Literature of Yosemite"