The Southwest Inside Out: An Illustrated Guide to the Land and Its History, 2004 Edition

by Thomas Wiewandt, Maureen Wilks

NATURAL WONDERS EXPLORED AND EXPLAINED . . . an authoritative, user-friendly guide to awe-inspiring landscapes of the Greater Southwest (desert and canyon country of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, northern Mexico, western Texas, Nevada, Utah, and western Colorado). Lavishly illustrated with 315 color photographs, 33 illustrations, and 7 maps, including a customized 15"x 20" tear-out road map. The text blends travel tips, Native American legends, prehistoric and historic vignettes, and non-technical explanations of earthly processes and events that have shaped the land, people, and wildlife. Included are attractions as familiar as the Grand Canyon and those as unfamiliar as musical dunes and dinosaur tracks. The writing is informative without being academic, suitable for all adults and students in junior high and up. And the back-matter is packed with resources to help outdoor adventure-seekers plan their 136 helpful websites, annotated listings for 63 books and 109 scenic attractions (including notable sites outside the parks), and a comprehensive index.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very nice sojourn throughout the deserts of America, a backyard to many of us that we relatively little explore and don't know much about. The pages are generously covered with beautiful photos of the desert landscapes, life and ecosystems. Additionally there is provided many nuanced expositions on wildlife as well as the formations of many of the landscapes and structures seem among the Utah, Arizona, California and other state deserts. Interspersed are interesting archeological and national historical events that occurred in these regions. Overall an enjoyable informative book, also great for the coffee table 😄

[David Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book that I've owned for years and occasionally browsed, but only recently read from cover to cover. I didn't find anything inaccurate in the text, and actually learned quite a bit. This is a really good introduction to the arid lands of the Southwest, and is full of suggestions for places to visit. Perhaps my only "beef" with the book is that the captions for the exquisite images are scattered all over the pages, and are not necessarily located under the images themselves; the placement of the captions did make me look over all the images on the pages, though.

[M Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after a trip to the southwest. It taught me a lot about the geology of the region and why things are the way they are. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the region.

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful coffee table book you can actually learn something from. Geology rocks!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous photos from every state in the Southwest.

[Tamara aka SoMysteriousLee]

Mine is actually a second edition published in 2004.

Gorgeous pictures, tons of information. Very nice read.