This first volume in the New American West Series explores Alaska's vast national-park system and the evolution of wilderness concepts in the 20th century. After World War II, the continued presence of human habitation forced a complex debate over "inhabited wilderness", which culminated in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980. The author focuses on three principal national parks Glacier Bay, Denali, and Gates of the Arctic. 24 halftones. 2 maps. 272 pp.