cover image Over Washington

Over Washington

Murray Cromwell Morgan. Pacific Pipeline, $39.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-1-875137-00-8

This stylish collection of 210 color photos of Washington taken from the air celebrates the state's centennial. Morgan ( Skid Road ) describes the history of the state, with anecdotes of Captain Cook's frustrations (``those damned mischievous maps''), the ``54-40 or fight'' border dispute with the British, the taming of the Columbia river, etc. Quality paper, printing and a good sense of aerial photography's potential characterize the plates. While occasionally lapsing into shots of beaches or highway interchanges, typical of the genre and not particularly Washington-specific, the majority of these photos are expert--the setting sun casting an electric pink over Mt. Shuksan in the Cascades, countless tulips in thick bands of startling color on a farm in the Skagit river delta, the geometric abstraction of an alfalfa field near Hanford Reservation. Photographer Sund's work regularly appears in Life , Geo and National Geographic ; Gerster's books include Below from Above . (July)