《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评

In the period immediately following the American Civil War, exploration survey teams and their photographers fanned out across the unexplored West with the goal of capturing for the first time the natural wonders of the area, thereby encouraging settlement and commercial development. William Henry Jackson, Timothy O'Sullivan (who photographed the carnage after Gettysburg), and Jack Hillers (who started as an oarsman on John Wesley Powell's survey) overcame formidable obstacles of rugged terrain and laborious wet-plate photographic processing to record spectacular views of vast, unspoiled Western territories. Using the testimony of historians and excerpts from the photographers' journals and diaries, the video shows how the photos encouraged Congress to preserve Yellowstone as the first national park. While the photographers evidently viewed the spread of white civilization throughout the West as progressive and part of the nation's destiny, they did record poignant images of Native Americans for future generations. Unfortunately, poor sound and picture quality render this otherwise outstanding documentary a questionable purchase for libraries.ÄStephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.