About this item
Fifty miles outside of Rome live the rarest grizzlies on earth. In Italian, there is no word for wilderness. Yet in the mountains of Italy, brown bears not only exist, they are fighting to survive amid encroaching development, local and international politics, and the mafia. This meticulously researched and eye-opening book tells the incredible stories of two special populations of bears in Italy--one the last vestige of a former time that persists against all odds, the other a great experiment in rewilding that, if successful, promises to change how we see not only Italy but all of Europe. The Abruzzo bears of central Italy have survived amid one of the oldest civilizations on earth--but now, with numbers estimated at as low as fifty individuals, they face a critical future as multiple forces, from farmers to the mob, collide within their territory.
About the Author
Roger Thompson splits time between writing nonfiction and teaching. His first book, a co-authored Iraq War memoir, was an award-winning best seller that was covered by the New York Times, NPR, the CBC, and many other major media outlets. His most recent book examines the plight of the rarest bears on earth. Living only 50 miles from Rome, the so-called "Italian grizzlies" are on the brink of extinction, and one of their greatest threats to survival is the incursion of the mafia into the Italian park system. Thompson currently serves as Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stony Brook University. Previously, he was a professor at VMI for nearly 15 years. He currently lives in NY with his wife and son.
