The book consists of 3 semi-fictionalized trips that the "hero" David Brower made in the late '60s with a mining engineer, a real estate developer, and a water reclamation engineer/bureaucrat. The reviews all said that McPhee gives a fair treatment to the "opposition". That's a bit of an understatement. I found all 3 to be more eloquent in their positions than Brower. Plus, 2 of the 3 antagonists always couch their arguments in terms of what the very best mining companies and real estate companies could do. But history has long shown that they will not do it. The book being 50 years old, the ecological positions are very stale even when they are well laid out. If you are interested in a book contrasting viewpoints between ecologists/conservationists and their opponents, look for something more recent. ( )

I loved this, I really did. A neutral narrator and a protagonist that you end up rooting for and disagreeing with at every turn, this narrative fiction is absolutely wonderful. Highly recommended for any and everyone. Encounters with the Archdruid probably has something for you. ( )

The last section in here, a trip through the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell with archdruid Dave Brower and dam hawk Floyd Dominy, is one of McPhee's most mesmerizing pieces of writing.

Cool book about Dave Brower, ex-president of the Sierra Club and "Archdruid", as he hangs out with builders of dams, extractors of metals, and developers of islands. A rare environmental book that exposits both sides of the coin. McPhee is an insightful writer on nature and his prose never disappoints. ( )

I found this book to be riveting; both a nature travelogue and an applied ecology seminar in one slim volume. Sierra Club director David Brower is the Archdruid, a man who uses the word "conserve" the way Carl Sagan used "billions". He's a die-hard environmentalist with a gift for PR who fights a never-ending battle against the government, developers, miners, and even humanity at large in his quest to keep as much of America as possible out of the reach of man forever, and McPhee – whose writing talent is truly impressive – allows Brower and his nemeses to explain themselves and their views on nature at length in flawless, crystalline prose. Whether sparring over mining the Glacier National Park with geologist Charles Park, or settling Hilton Head Island with developer Charles Fraser, or damming the Grand Canyon with bureaucrat Floyd Dominy, Brower's unstinting defense of the wilderness touches on issues of conservation vs. preservation that become more relevant every day. His fervent devotion to the outdoors is nearly religious (hence the book's title), but so heartfelt and understandable, given the irreplaceable natural wonders he's fighting for, that by the end of the book I was practically cheering for him even though his antagonists were just as thoughtful and compelling as he was. Though the book is lightly infused with that peculiar 70s nature mysticism, in a world where Louisiana steadily washes out to the sea and the Everglades dwindles by the day to the size of a mud puddle Brower almost seems more reasonable now than when the book was written. Very thought-provoking, and McPhee is an absolutely superb writer. ( )