'I can promise you some chapters in the condor tale that you've never heard before.' With that introduction, Sanford R. 'Sandy' Wilbur takes you into parts of Condor Country where few have ever been. Based on sixty years of interest, and twelve years (1969-1981) of intensive study, Sandy gives you full benefit of his knowledge of the California Condor. How did National Audubon Society first become involved in condor preservation? How did Carl Koford become the first condor biologist? How were the Sisquoc and Sespe condor sanctuaries set aside by the Forest Service? What prompted the Fish and Wildlife Service to finally get involved with the condors' plight? How many condors were there, and what really caused them to become endangered? What was the Condor Recovery Plan? How did it become a condor 'contingency plan?' How did all the condors end up in cages? Drawing much of his information from lesser known publications and unpublished government files, and often quoting directly from his own journals and field notes, Sandy describes the California Condor from the Pleistocene to the 1980s. More than that, he gives you a ringside seat for the interactions and controversies of people and politics that make condor preservation one of the most exciting conservation stories of all time.