Product Description

Images and descriptions will be available Spring 2012. Contact your Sales Representative for more information.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57874 in Books
• Published on: 1986-12-12
• Released on: 1986-12-12
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .36 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 320 pages

From Amazon
Published in 1949, shortly after the author's death, A Sand County Almanac is a classic of nature writing, widely cited as one of the most influential nature books ever published. Writing from the vantage of his summer shack along the banks of the Wisconsin River, Leopold mixes essay, polemic, and memoir in his book's pages. In one famous episode, he writes of killing a female wolf early in his career as a forest ranger, coming upon his victim just as she was dying, "in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes.... I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view." Leopold's road-to-Damascus change of view would find its fruit some years later in his so-called land ethic, in which he held that nothing that disturbs the balance of nature is right. Much of Almanac elaborates on this basic premise, as well as on Leopold's view that it is something of a human duty to preserve as much wild land as possible, as a kind of bank for the biological future of all species. Beautifully written, quiet, and elegant, Leopold's book deserves continued study and discussion today. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly
These original essays on the natural environment by renowned conservationist Leopold (1887-1948) were first published posthumously in 1949. In this edition, more than 80 lush photographs shot by nature photographer Sewell on Leopold's former Wisconsin farm accompany the text. Following the seasons, Leopold, whose seminal work in the U.S. Forest Service and in books and magazines helped shape the conservation movement in this country, shared his perceptive and carefully observed portraits of nature month by month. In April, he watched the "sky dance" of the woodcock, who flew upward in a series of spirals. As he hunted partridges in October, his way was lit by "red lanterns," the blackberry leaves that shone in the sun. A November rumination details how the products of tree diseases provide wooded shelters for woodpeckers, hives for wild bees and food for chickadees. Included also is an appreciative essay on wild marshland and several pieces stressing the importance of protecting the natural environment. Leopold sadly observed, "there is yet no ethic dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it." His hope that society would develop an "ecological conscience" by placing what should be preserved above what is economically expedient remains relevant today. These evocative essays about the farm Leopold loved will again be enjoyed by nature lovers and preservationists alike. Though the book has been continuously in print, this beautiful illustrated edition, with its introduction by nature writer Brower (The Starship and the Canoe) will attract fans and newcomers and will make a great gift book this holiday season.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Thank you for keeping this very important book in print!"--John E. Carroll, University of New Hampshire

"One of the seminal works of the environmental movement."--The Boston Globe

"I have used this text for twenty years and will continue to use it....It should be required reading for every high school senior."--Walter L. Cook, Jr., University of Georgia

"An inspirational classic--as relevant today as it was when first published in 1949."--Paul S. Miko, University of New Mexico

"We can place this book on the shelf that holds the writings of Thoreau and John Muir."--The San Francisco Chronicle

"It is safe to assume that A Sand County Almanac will be read for decades, and probably centuries to come."--William Vogt

"Any student of the natural resources and the environment is not yet educated if he or she has not read A Sand County Almanac."--Paul T. Tueller, University of Nevada at Reno

"A classic book, good to have in a [relatively] inexpensive edition."--Professor Marshall Spector, State University of New York

"A fine book--Robert Finch's introduction enhances a classic text."--Luther Erickson, Grinnell College

"Beautiful edition!"--Abby Lito, Middlebury College