A Sand County Almanac

Aldo Leopold

Nov 2001 · Oxford University Press

About this eBook

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.

Ratings and reviews

This was pretty good! More organized some books of musings about nature I'm familiar with. Nice and short; the audiobook is less than 3 hours long. Not bad for a book club read. It was written in the 40s, but it doesn't feel dated. My only problem was that I missed good chunks of it because I got distracted, but it's not like it really leaves you behind. I think it'd be an okay book to pick up and set down months or years apart, if you know what I mean.

The original book is a classic. The paperback I had for years had no pictures, except those painted with my mind. Even today, I will clap my hands at my bird feeder, then wait for the chickadees.

About the author

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.