The subject of this history is the science and politics of the establishment, funding, construction and operation of two important American observatories, the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The book is written from the unique perspective of Frank K. Edmondson, a former member of the AURA board of directors. Drawing on oral histories, archival material, as well as the author's personal participation from 1956 to the present, this is a personal account of a period of major innovation in American optical astronomy. Will be of interest to historians and astronomers alike.