cover image Nature’s Great Events

Nature’s Great Events

, . . Univ. of Chicago, $39.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-226-47154-9

In conjunction with the forthcoming Discovery Channel series Seasons of Survival , comes a chronicle of six of nature's most awesome annual feats—the yearly flooding of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the pre-winter preparations and feasting on the coast of Alaska, land migrations on the Serengeti, the Arctic melts, the British Columbia salmon run and the migration of sardines pursued by sharks and dolphins in South Africa’s waters. Lush photographs from the BBC’s Natural History Unit and commentary from the photographers themselves put readers in the middle of the seasonal phenomena that shape and sustain the earth: cameraman Mike Holding watches as elephants wade into flooding waters cautiously, so as not to dirty it; on the southeasternmost tip of Alaska, assistant producer Joe Stevens unwittingly dives into the midst of a fish breeding ground. In her foreword, editor and producer Bass writes, “The Earth is changing fast; making this series was a sharp reminder that we cannot take these natural events for granted.” The detailed—almost reverent—images of imperiled habitats coupled with Bass’s call to urgency make this a beautiful, timely book. (Apr.)