The John Day Wilderness, Crater Lake, the Willamette Valley: just hours south from our seat in the rainy city, Oregon stands as one of the most beautiful states in the nation. That's no accident. Generations of advocates have spoken passionately on its behalf, moving hearts and minds (as they say) and changing policy to protect it. The best of their speaking and writing is collected in A Glimpse into History, a new book by conservationist Michael McCloskey, threaded into a history of Oregon's wilderness and the people who've protected it.

"I had thought that history dealt with people who are dead and silent," says McCloskey, but when he began gathering quotes for A Glimpse into History, he found voices that still speak loudly today — with joy, with fury, with determination. The book he made allows those voices to speak again, even if indirectly, against the policies that threaten years of gains to protect our public lands. A leader in the conservation movement — executive director, then chairman, of the Sierra Club for three decades — McCloskey's book is both a celebration and a terrifying reminder of how long this fight has endured, and how ground once lost may be lost forever. Visit our sponsor page for .

Sponsors like Michael McCloskey make the Seattle Review of Books run. We're thrilled that the site was sponsor-supported for every week so far in 2018. To thank all those who made it possible, we're running a pre-sale on fall and winter slots for past sponsors, just through the end of the day. Email us at sponsor@seattlereviewofbooks.com to reserve your slots!