In 1997 Grant Hadwin, logger turned environmentalist, single-handedly cut down a revered tree on Queen Charlotte Island as a protest against 'professionals' destroying the forest. Vaillant effectively draws in the backstory to this event showing how history arrived at this point. His portrait of the conflicted Hadwin is compelling and it's impossible not to sympathize with his plight to some degree. The author covers Haida and logger sensibilities well but is perhaps a touch too pc. He has no comment about the overwrought reaction to the cutting down of one tree (many were calling for Hadwin's death) when millions of trees have been sacrificed. He also lets the 'mystery' of Hadwin's disappearance remain open when it's clear by now he drowned in his ill-fated attempt to reach the mainland by kayak. Excellent in parts but uneven.