Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples HC

In the tradition of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, The Eternal Frontier is ecological history on a monumental scale. One of the world's foremost paleontologists, Tim Flannery has undertaken a task of enormous ambition and accomplished something never before attempted: a history of the formation of North America as we know it today. Starting with an asteroid strike 65 million years ago, Flannery shows how the continent came into being and was then transformed into our modern landscape. He describes the development of North America's deciduous forests and other flora and tracks the immigration and emigration of various animals to and from Europe, Asia, and South America, showing how plant and animal species have either adapted or become extinct. The story takes in the massive changes wrought by the ice ages and the coming of humans, and continues right up to the present, covering the deforestation of the Northeast, the decimation of the buffalo, and other facets of the enormous impact of frontier settlement and the development of the industrial might of the United States. The Eternal Frontier contains an enormous wealth of fascinating scientific details, and Flannery's accessible and dynamic writing makes the book a delight to read. It is a heady, almost vertiginous feeling to ponder the enormous span of time that the book covers and to assimilate the radical changes that have occurred over the years. This is science writing at its very best: a page-turner that is simultaneously an accessible but scholarly trove of incredible information. Destined to be a classic, The Eternal Frontier is a truly astonishing accomplishment.