A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World's First National Park by Randall K. Wilson (Counterpoint) has won the $50,000 Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History, honoring "the best book of the year in the field of American history or biography" and sponsored by the New York Historical (formerly the New-York Historical Society).
Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang, chair of the New York Historical's board of trustees said that the winning title "has redefined the concept of a biography. A Place Called Yellowstone is almost a Homeric hagiography, but of a primordial super volcano whose story began 2.1 million years ago in what is now America; yet, this book tells a more encompassing history about America than most biographies about Americans. Randall's sweeping epic illustrates why Yellowstone became America's first UNESCO World Heritage Site and how its tempestuous awesomeness has come to symbolize the fiery, beating heart of our evolving nation. The New York Historical has been a steward of America's heritage for 221 years, it is incredibly fitting that we present this year's Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History to Randall Wilson for A Place Called Yellowstone."