A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections)

Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac has enthralled generations of nature lovers and conservationists. Hailed for prose that is "full of beauty and vigor and bite" (The New York Times), it is perhaps the finest example of nature writing since Thoreau's Walden, and one of the most influential works ever written about humans and the environment.

This stunning illustrated edition, with more than eightycolor images by acclaimed photographer Michael Sewell, celebrates the Wisconsin farm where the seasons of Leopold's almanac unfold. Sewell, with a dogeared paperback of Sand County in his camera bag, followed the author's footsteps across the landscape, capturing wuth his lens the same woodland, river, marsh, and wildlife that Aldo captured with his pen. Leopold takes us through the year from January to December, watching a woodcock dance in golden afternoon light, or listening to quail song at daybreak. He finds the poetry not only in the sweep of geese across the autumn sky, but also in the humble draba plant or the act of chopping a tree. And Michael Sewell displays an almost uncanny gift for finding images that resonate side by side with Aldo's words, allowing readers to experience this classic work as never before.

This edition also includes a new introduction by Kenneth Brower discussing Leopold's work and legacy, and concludes with two of Leopold's most eloquent essays on conservation, "Marshland Elegy" and "The Land Ethic." With this volume, a new generation of readers can walk beside one of America's greatest naturalists as he reveals the beauty of a marsh before sunrise or the wealth of history to be found in the rings of an oak.

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

"One of the most beautiful, heart-warming and important nature books to appear in years." The Chicago Tribune

"To read this book is not only to acquire much useful information, but to develop a keener eye and a sharper ear for the world of nature and a greater respect for the land." The Christian Science Monitor

Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac has enthralled generations of nature lovers and conservationists and is indeed revered by everyone seriously interested in protecting the natural world. Hailed for prose that is "full of beauty and vigor and bite" (The New York Times), it is perhaps the finest example of nature writing since Thoreau's Walden.

Now this classic work is available in a completely redesigned and lavishly illustrated gift edition, featuring over one hundred beautiful full-color pictures by Michael Sewell, one of the country's leading nature photographers. Sewell, whose work has graced the pages of Audubon and Sierra magazines, walked Leopold's property in Wisconsin and shot these photographs specifically for this edition, allowing readers to see Sand County as Leopold saw it. The resulting layout is spectacular. But the heart of the book remains Leopold's carefully rendered observations of nature. Here we follow Leopold throughout the year, from January to December, as he walks about the rural Wisconsin landscape, watching a woodcock dance skyward in golden afternoon light, or spying a rough-legged hawk dropping like a feathered bomb on its prey. And perhaps most important are Leopold's trenchant comments throughout the book on our abuse of the land and on what we must do to preserve this invaluable treasure. This edition also includes two of Leopold's most eloquent essays on conservation, "The Land Ethic" and "Marshland Elegy."

With this gift edition of A Sand County Almanac, a new generation of readers can walk beside one of America's most respected naturalists as he conveys the beauty of a marsh before sunrise or the wealth of history to be found in an ancient oak.

With this spectacularly illustrated gift edition, a new generation of readers can walk beside one of America's most respected naturalists as he conveys the beauty of a marsh before sunrise or the wealth of history to be found in an ancient oak.

Michael Sewell is a widely recognized nature photographer with a long-standing relationship with the Sierra Club. A book of his photographs, Bay Area Wild: A Celebration of the Natural Heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area, was published in 1997. Kenneth Brower is a prominent environmental writer and advocate whose books include The Starship and the Canoe.