Ernest Thompson Seton, Founder of the Woodcraft Movement 1860-1946: Apostle of Indian Wisdom and Pioneer Ecologist

This book focuses on artist-naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton, a man who has been compared with Kipling as a writer, with Audubon as a bird artist, with Baden-Powell as a youth leader, and with Fabre as a naturalist. Despite these weighty comparisons and the fact that he was a key inspiration for many later wildlife conservationists and ecologists, Seton has remained a much neglected figure. This lucidly written and well-researched study provides a splendid introduction to the life and work of this “creative genius”, demonstrating the importance of Seton as the naturalist who, at the turn of the twentieth century, was largely responsible for initiating an ecological consciousness and ethic. Instead of focusing on Seton’s personal life, this book presents Seton as a wildlife artist, as a pioneer literary figure who established the realistic animal story, as the apostle of American Indian culture, as well as an influential figure in the founding of the Boy Scouts.