Almost anyone who lives in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area has some experience with the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, but there are very few, unless they experienced it, who know its tumultuous history. David Fazzino does an excellent job of conveying all of the important parts of the story—from precolonial history to historic home ownership—as well as legal explanations of the government's power for legislative taking and the true beauty that abounds the area today. This book would be an excellent educational read for legal or environmental scholars, but also should be available to anyone who avails themselves of recreational opportunities at the Delaware Water Gap.
— Rachel S. Marlowe, J. D.
In Historic Takings in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, David Fazzino sets about the difficult task of tracking backward in time the seemingly endless string of dispossession and cultural violence enacted in North America in the names of colonialism and capitalism. This is a story told in multiple acts, one that is as relevant for how we think about reconciliation with Indigenous peoples as it is for understanding contemporary poverty in Appalachia. This well-researched story humanizes complex histories and resonates with emerging critiques of mainstream environmentalism.
— Philip A. Loring, University of Guelph; author of Finding Our Niche
David Fazzino skillfully weaves together biographical, autobiographical, and academic perspectives in his exploration of the creation of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Eastern Pennsylvania. His use of multiple perspectives to tell the many stories of this unique and special place creates an engaging and instructive portrait of this important regional resource.
— Susan Dauria, Bloomsburg University
In Historic Takings in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, David Fazzino carefully weighs the historical and anthropological tensions between the promises, controversy, trauma, and nostalgia involved in removing people from their homes to create a national park. By privileging the voices and experiences of those who were displaced, this book reveals how memory and belonging combine in the ongoing process of place-making in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
— Andrew Watson, University of Saskatchewan