
A Sand County Almanac: and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold
Few books have had a greater impact than A Sand County Almanac, which many credit with launching a revolution in land management. Written as a series of sketches based principally upon the flora and fauna in a rural part of Wisconsin, the book, originally published by Oxford in 1949, gathers informal pieces written by Leopold over a forty-year period as he traveled through the woodlands of Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Sonora, Oregon, Manitoba, and elsewhere; a final section addresses the philosophical issues involved in wildlife conservation. Beloved for its description and evocation of the natural world, Leopold's book, which has sold well over 2 million copies, remains a foundational text in environmental science and a national treasure. "Reborn for Earth Day 50, the 2020 edition includes an introduction by author and conservationist, Barbara Kingsolver. 'A land ethic, ' Leopold wrote, 'enlarges the boundaries of the community' to include not only humans, but also soils, waters, plants,