Booklist Review

This remarkable examination of the history and cultural impact of an animal species nearly lost for good uses a wide variety of sources in tracing the buffalo from the Ice Age to the present. Geist describes the historic adaptations that occurred in various classes of buffalo, the biology of the North American bison, the impact of human hunters, and the close relationship that developed between bison and Native American tribes. The slaughter of the great herds that began in the mid^-nineteenth century is truly horrifying today, and many people at the time were also sickened by it. Geist convincingly shows that this near extinction was the result of government efforts to deprive Native American tribes of food, forcing them onto reservations and opening the West to settlers. Sprinkled throughout are buffalo myths and stories. A fine history made even better by the array of drawings and stunning full-color photos. --Brian McCombie