The San Francisco Peaks and Flagstaff Through the Lens of Time - by John L Vankat (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In this extended visual essay celebrating the San Francisco Peaks and Flagstaff, watch more than 150 years of history unfold in 125 historical drawings and photographs paired with their modern-day counterparts. Author John L. Vankat, an experienced plant ecologist and teacher, reveals the telling historical and natural details that provide meaning and context and bring history alive. The photo sets document the effects of lumber mills, early settlement, tourism, and urban growth in and around a mountain town at the apex of Arizona. The result is an invitation to time-travel, appealing to anyone interested in cultural and natural history, ecology, land use, and resource management. Here in this high-elevation forest near the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, human effort and energy have remade the natural environment, but the storied San Francisco Peaks remain a touchstone of beauty, changed yet timeless. Vankat gives us a chance to celebrate this special place as it was, and as it is today-and to judge for ourselves what its past and present might say about the future of the American West"--

Book Synopsis

WINNER: New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards for Arizona History and Large-Format Cover Design

"Faithfully documented repeat photographs provide the context that helps us understand our beautiful and challenged mountain landscape."-Peter Z. Fulé, Regents' Professor of Forestry, Northern Arizona University

In this eye-catching visual essay celebrating the San Francisco Peaks and Flagstaff, watch more than 150 years unfold in over one hundred historical photographs and drawings precisely paired with their modern-day counterparts.

Ecologist, educator, and writer John L. Vankat reveals the telling details that bring the past alive. The result is an invitation to time-travel, appealing to anyone interested in nature, culture, or history.

The storied San Francisco Peaks remain a touchstone of beauty and emotion despite more than a century of change. Vankat gives us a chance to see and celebrate this special place as it was, to understand it today--and to consider what its past and present say about the future of the American West.

"Engaging, historically revealing, and scientifically sound, this book sets the standard for documenting long-term regional landscape changes." -William Wallace Covington, Emeritus Regents' Professor, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University

Review Quotes

"...an engrossing trip through time [that] spans multiple eras to deliver a scintillating look at the history of the region... Vankat's precise, straightforward observations are balanced by the poetry of his images." --Ho Lin, Foreword Reviews

About the Author

John L. Vankat is a plant ecologist, educator, and writer whose interest in the history and dynamics of forests led to an early fascination with repeat photography, in which historical photographs are retaken to show the changes that have taken place over time. Vankat believes rephotography projects can entertain readers while also educating the public, land managers, and scientists about the effects of our policies and actions on the landscapes we hold dear.