Annals of the Former World

The Pulitzer Prize-winning view of the continent, across the fortieth parallel and down through 4.6 billion years Twenty years ago, when John McPhee began his journeys back and forth across the United States, he planned to describe a cross section of North America at about the fortieth parallel and, in the process, come to an understanding not only of the science but of the style of the geologists he traveled with. The structure of the book never changed, but its breadth caused him to complete it in stages, under the overall titleAnnals of the Former World. Like the terrain it covers,Annals of the Former Worldtells a multilayered tale, and the reader may choose one of many paths through it. As clearly and succinctly written as it is profoundly informed, this is our finest popular survey of geology and a masterpiece of modern nonfiction. John McPheeis the author of more than 25 books, includingAnnals of the Former World, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction in 1999. He has been a staff writer atThe New Yorkersince 1965 and lives in Princeton, New Jersey. McPhee'sEncounters with the ArchdruidandThe Curve of Binding Energywere both nominated for National Book Awards in the category of science. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize For much of twenty years, John McPhee traveled back and forth across the United States in the company of geologists. His aim was to write a complex work describing a cross-section of North America at about the fortieth parallel and, in so doing, to give an account of the "deep history" of the continent4.6 billion yearsas well as of the science of geology and the styles of the geologists he traveled with. The breadth of the work led him to complete it in stages, each of which was acclaimed upon publication (Basin and Range,In Suspect Terrain,Rising from the Plains,Assembling California, andCrossing the Craton); and when it was published in full, asAnnals of the Former World, it was recognized as a masterpiece of nonfiction writing: an organic succession of set pieces, flashbacks, biographical sketches, and histories of the human and lithic kind. Like the terrain it covers,Annals of the Former Worldtells a many-layered tale, and the reader may take paths through it. Profoundly informed, clearly and succinctly written, it is our finest popular survey of geology, and a summation of John McPhee's work. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize "No other work explains so well . . . the living principles of geology"Henry Kisor,Chicago Sun-Times "A magnum opus, a hallmark in literary scientific journalism."Blake Edgar,San Francisco Chronicle "McPhee makes it all work. He somehow makes his nearly 700 pages of geological discourse sound like the archetypal drama of the planet. (As, indeed, it may be.)"Rob Laymon,The Philadelphia Inquirer "No other work explains so well . . . the living principles of geology . . . McPhee has turned the world on to rocks."Henry Kisor,Chicago Sun-Times "Sunlit, brilliant . . . this book of wonders . . . ranks with theJournals of Lewis and Clark."John Skow,Time "[McPhee] triumphs by succinct prose, by his . . . ability to capture the essence of a complex issue . . . in a well-turned phrase."Stephen Jay Gould,The New York Review of Books "Tripling as a geology primer, an autobiography and a panorama of the nation, bejeweled with splendid vignettes and set-pieces,Annals of the Former Worldoffers a view of America like no other. It is the outpouring of a master stylist. Yield to its geopoetry and have your eyes opened to a barely known aspect of the continent."

John McPhee is the author of twenty-six books (all published by FSG). He won the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in 1998 for this work. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.