As one of our prominent nature writers, Barry Lopez travels throughout the American Southwest and Alaska to explore the great abundance and diversity of some of our nation’s most pristine settings. His writing seamlessly blends science and history in a narrative that is as beautifully crafted as it is insightful and inspiring. The essays contained within Crossing Open Ground vary greatly in theme and subject, though along with the author, the reader too can lose the sense of urgency, rekindle a sense of what people were and a sense of “our endless struggle as a species to understand time and to estimate the consequences of our acts”. The great Barry Lopez leaves the reader with a lasting sense of wonder and respect for nature. A gem of our modern thinking about the human place and natural world.