As a central figure in the American wilderness preservation movement in the mid-twentieth century, Howard Zahniser (1906-1964) was the person most responsible for the landmark Wilderness Act of 1964. In this deeply researched and affectionate portrait, Mark Harvey brings to life this great leader of environmental activism. Zahniser worked for the Bureau of Biological Survey (a precursor to the Fish and Wildlife Service) and the Department of the Interior, wrote for Nature magazine, and eventually managed the Wilderness Society and edited its magazine, Living Wilderness. His eloquent definition of wilderness still serves as a central tenet for the Wilderness Society: "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammelled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."