Yellowstone was old long before anyone imagined a national park.

Beneath its forests and snow lies a restless volcanic system. Across its valleys move bison, elk, wolves, bears, rivers, fire, and migrations that refuse to obey boundaries. Across thousands of years, Indigenous peoples knew and used this country before explorers, railroads, soldiers, tourists, scientists, and lawmakers transformed the way it was understood.

William Stanek's The Living Yellowstone Biography tells the sweeping life story behind America's first national park-from fire beneath the earth and life above it to the invention of Yellowstone, the mistakes made in managing it, the return of wolves, the changing meaning of wilderness, and the unfinished work of protecting a living system.

This is Yellowstone beyond the postcard: ancient, contested, resilient, and still becoming.