John Muir's extraordinary vision of America comes to life in these fascinating selections from his personal journals. As a conservationist, John Muir traveled through most of the American wilderness alone and on foot, without a gun or a sleeping bag. In 1903, while on a three-day camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt, he convinced the president of the importance of a national conservation program, and he is widely recognized for saving the Grand Canyon and Arizona's Petrified Forest. Muir's writing, based on journals he kept throughout his life, gives our generation a picture of an America still wild and unsettled only one hundred years ago. In The Wildernesss World of John Muir Edwin Way Teale has selected the best of Muir's writing from all of his major works--including My First Summer in the Sierra and Travels in Alaska--to provide a singular collection that provides to be "magnificent, thrilling, exciting, breathtaking, and awe-inspiring" (Kirkus Reviews).

The Seventh World Wilderness Congress met in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 2001. The symposium on science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values was one of several symposia held in conjunction with the Congress. The papers contained in this proceedings were presented at this symposium and cover seven topics: state-of-knowledge on protected areas issues in South Africa; traditional and ecological values of nature; wilderness systems and approaches to protection; protection of coastal/marine and river/lake wilderness; spiritual benefits, religious beliefs, and new stories; personal and societal values of wilderness; and the role of science, education, and collaborative planning in wilderness protection and restoration.

Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes is a unique, five volume reference that provides a global synthesis of biomes, including the latest science. All of the book's chapters follow a common thematic order that spans biodiversity importance, principal anthropogenic stressors and trends, changing climatic conditions, and conservation strategies for maintaining biomes in an increasingly human-dominated world. This work is a one-stop shop that gives users access to up-to-date, informative articles that go deeper in content than any currently available publication. Offers students and researchers a one-stop shop for information currently only available in scattered or non-technical sources Authored and edited by top scientists in the field Concisely written to guide the reader though the topic Includes meaningful illustrations and suggests further reading for those needing more specific information

In her writings, Terry Tempest Williams repeatedly invites us as readers into engagement and conversation with both her and her subject matter, whether it is nature or society, environment or art. From her evocation, in Desert Quartet: An Erotic Landscape, of an eroticism of place that defines erotic as "in relation," to the spiritual connectivity and familial bonds she explores in Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place and the political engagement she urges in The Open Space of Democracy, much of her work is about relationship, connection, and community. Like much good writing, her books invite readers into thoughtful dialogue with the text. Frequently in demand for workshops, lectures, and other speaking venues and well known as an environmental activist, Williams has a public persona and voice almost indistinguishable from her written ones. Thus, the interviews she has often granted--in print, on the radio, on the Web--seamlessly elaborate the ideas and extend the explorations of her written texts. They also tell us much about the genesis, context, and intent of her books. With her distinctive, impassioned voice and familiar felicity of language, she talks about wilderness and wildlife, place and eroticism, art and literature, democracy and politics, family and heritage, Mormonism and religion, writing and creativity, and other subjects that engage her agile mind. The set of interviews gathered and introduced by Michael Austin in A Voice in the Wilderness represent the span of Terry Tempest Williams's career as a naturalist, author, and activist.

Reveals the previous underexplored influence of religious thought in building the foundations of the CIA. Michael Graziano’s intriguing book fuses two landmark titles in American history: Perry Miller’s Errand into the Wilderness (1956), about the religious worldview of the early Massachusetts colonists, and David Martin’s Wilderness of Mirrors (1980), about the dangers and delusions inherent to the Central Intelligence Agency. Fittingly, Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors investigates the dangers and delusions that ensued from the religious worldview of the early molders of the Central Intelligence Agency. Graziano argues that the religious approach to intelligence by key OSS and CIA figures like “Wild” Bill Donovan and Edward Lansdale was an essential, and overlooked, factor in establishing the agency’s concerns, methods, and understandings of the world. In a practical sense, this was because the Roman Catholic Church already had global networks of people and safe places that American agents could use to their advantage. But more tellingly, Graziano shows, American intelligence officers were overly inclined to view powerful religions and religious figures through the frameworks of Catholicism. As Graziano makes clear, these misconceptions often led to tragedy and disaster on an international scale. By braiding the development of the modern intelligence agency with the story of postwar American religion, Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors delivers a provocative new look at a secret driver of one of the major engines of American power.

Two naturalists explore the many natural wonders of the Grand Canyon, including its geology, flora, fauna, and river ecology; and make a case for barring overdevelopment in the park.

Noticing a frequently used Bible phrase often precedes a breakthrough in understanding Scripture's teaching on key Bible topics. But computer-based searches and single-word concordances quickly overwhelm learners with raw, unconnected data. This phrase concordance compiles over 5,000 Bible expressions, giving their exact Scriptural quotations complete with surrounding sentences. Additionally, their alphabetical listing offers the chance to explore similar and related topics without starting a new search. Find It Fast in the Bible presents the exact chapter-and-verse locations of specific passages where the same wording expresses a Bible theme, such as "Day of the Lord," "Kingdom of Heaven," and "I tell you the truth." This handy reference resource contains Over 5,000 best-loved and most-used Bible phrases The New King James Version as the primary translation Cross-references to other major translations (NIV, NRSV, KJV, and NASB) An alphabetical arrangement by the first word in the phrase More than 30,000 references An extensive Key Word Index These features make Find It Fast in the Bible a trusted, time-saving companion resource and stand-alone aid for personal and group discovery.