The Face of the Earth: Natural Landscapes, Science, and Culture

paper, 320 pp., $26.95

This work explains the Earth’s basic natural landscapes, which is quite an undertaking for one volume. It works thanks to Campbell’s clear expository style and the organization of the book. The first section deals with the geological processes behind the creation of a given landscape. The middle section assesses the work of water in its various forms on landscape. The final section treats the ways in which life affects landscape.

Campbell is an English professor, so the text is very well written, with first-person accounts of the Chihuahuan desert or the chalk downs of Sussex, for example. These stories make this work a very personal account of varied landscapes around the world.

— Adele Kleine, volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden