Rating: 
Summary: A classic account of misguided policy
Review: This one is a classic. Stegner presents not only a biography, but a cogent indictment of the blindness of the US government to growth-oriented boosterism and capitalism in the interior West. The results of that blindness can be seen today in the absurdities of the water-hungry urban economies of Phoenix and Las Vegas plunked down in the middle of the desert.As Stegner makes clear, Powell predicted these inanities and would certainly appreciate their ironies today.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent adventure and history book
Review: Wallace Stegner combines the adventure of John Wesley Powell's historic running of the Colorado River and the story of government science. Powell's river running is a dramatic yarn, and Stegner draws on his strengths as a historian to debunk some of the exaggerations of Powell's own writings. Stegner has quite a way with words and brings Powell's story to life. The second half of the book is somewhat dry, but it is an important document of the history of government-funded science in this country. (Powell played an important role in government science.) He does an excellent job of enlivening the characters, and the history has important implications today. While this is not Stegner's best book, it is a good read, especially for fans of the American West.
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