Though Ishi's story has been told before in fiilm and fiction, Professor and author Douglas Sackma's book is the first book to focus on the depth of Ishi and Kroeber's friendship and to explore what their intertwined stories tell us about Indian survival in modern America and about America's fascination with the wild even as it was becoming ever-more urban and modern. This book is about two individuals and two worlds intimately brought together in ways that turned out to bve at once inspiring and tragic. Each man stood looking at the other from the opposite edge of a chasm: they reached out in the hope of keeping the other from falling in. This is a splendid narrative - touching, stark, and humane and is one of those books that every person who cares about the American West should read. Truly an important historical reinterpretation of the intertwining lives of Alfred Kroeber and Ishi and their lifes and times. Illustrated with b/w photos. Hardbound w/dustjacket: 365 pages: 6 x 8.5"