A natural history of nature writing

In Western society we feel neither entirely at one with our fellow creatures, nor entirely separate. Over the years, nature writers have struggled, in memorable language, with this feeling of "in-betweeness." A Natural History of Nature Writing shows us how this genre combines the rigors of science with the beauty of art to make our minds and our hearts whole. The book offers a penetrating overview of the origins and development of this uniquely American literature.

Essayist and poet Frank Stewart describes in rich and compelling prose the lives and works of the most prominent American nature writers of the 19th and 20th centuries.