Prairie: The Land and Its People

The authors of Kansas Journeys extend their interests to the country's prairies, a vast expanse spreading west from Indiana to Wyoming, and south from the Canadian borders of Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana to Texas. Their large-format exploration of the history, ecology, evolution and essence of prairie lands, combining 219 color photos with text, is organized in three sections. ``Natural Prairie'' considers the historical and geological aspects of different types of prairies; ``Profiles'' offers views, pictoral and verbal, of those who live on the prairie; ``Reflections'' is a pastiche of poetic considerations with photographic accompaniment. While its tone is sometimes nostalgic to the point of sentimentality, the book is a paean to both place and lifestyle, possessing aesthetic appeal and informational value. (Jan.)