The National Geographic Illustrated History Of National Parks

This is the guide by National Geographic that celebrates the 100-year history of our National Parks. A richly detailed forward explains the particulars of the National Park Service’s logo and its iconic car window stickers, provides visitor numbers that show Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park as the most-visited park in 2014, and a map that shows the location of every property, including National Parks, Historic Sites, Memorials, Monuments, Preserves, and more. The book retells the history of “America’s best idea” using 400 color photographs in the form of photo essays and four-page pull-outs that span five chronological sections of the National Park Service’s unique timeline. A hand-tinted photograph of Mount Ranier National Park from 1916, a 1959 picture of Pu’u ‘O‘o spewing lava from Kilauea, and an overhead shot of Yellowstone’s iconic Grand Prismatic Spring from 1972 contrast with silhouetted pictures of artifacts found at Chaco Canyon, a panoramic view of visitors to African Burial Ground National Monument, and artifacts from Manzanar National Historic Site. Hardcover; 368 pages. 11 1/4" H x 9 1/2" W x 1 1/4" D. (4 lbs.)