Sign-In
Cart
The Height of Our Mountains: Nature Writing from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley
Paperback
Environmental StudiesGeneral NatureNature Writing
ISBN13: 9780801856914
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: Apr 6 1998
Pages: 456
Weight: 1.50
Height: 1.12 Width: 5.96 Depth: 9.14
Language: English
This is an anthology of nearly four centuries of nature writing about one of America's premier regions--the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Beginning with Captain John Smith's eager gaze westward in search of gold and ending with contemporary essayist John Daniel's transformative gaze inward in search of wilderness, The Height of our Mountains features the work of seventy of the nation's finest writers on nature, from 1607 to 1997.
Responding to Thomas Jefferson's claim in Notes on the State of Virginia that the height of our mountains has not yet been estimated with any degree of exactness, Branch and Philippon have gathered a diverse collection of written perspectives on the region in an effort to measure the remarkable richness of this landscape through a variety of literary forms and styles.
The result is a wide-ranging survey that includes the colonial narratives of William Byrd and George Washington, as well as the natural histories of John Bartram and John James Audubon; the travel narratives of King Louis Philippe of France and the diaries and memoirs of Cornelia Peake McDonald, Walt Whitman, and John Burroughs; works of fiction by Edgar Allen Poe and Willa Cather; speeches by James Madison, Herbert Hover, and Franklin Roosevelt; and contemporary writings by Donald Culcross Peattie, Edwin Way Teale, Roger Tory Peterson, Annie Dillard, Donald McCaig, Peter Svenson, and Jake Page.
The book contains a lengthy and detailed introduction on the character and form of nature writing, the concepts of place and bioregionalism, and the literary natural history of the Blue Ridge country itself. Ample notes, beautiful illustrations and amps, and a lengthy bibliography make this book a lasting treasure.
Also in
Nature Writing
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paperback
The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present
Brusatte, Steve
Hardcover
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate--Discoveries from a Secret World
Wohlleben, Peter
Paperback
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Hardcover
To Catch a Fish: Essays on the Joy, Frustration, Curiosity, and Allure of Fishing
Kurlansky, Mark
Hardcover
The Fullness of Time: Marking the Day by Birdsong, Blooms, Shadows, and Stars
Haynes, Cathy
Hardcover
I Have This Thing for Flowers: Essays on the Roots of Relationships
Sawchyn, Alysia Li Ying
Hardcover
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments
Nezhukumatathil, Aimee
Paperback
Exploring the Maine Woods - The Hardy Family Expedition to the Machias Lakes
Carbone, Tommy
Hardy Eckstorm, Fannie
Paperback
Outsider Animals: How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach Us
Zuk, Marlene
Hardcover
Werner's Nomenclature of Colours: Adapted to Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Anatomy, and the Arts
Syme, Patrick
Werner, Abraham Gottlob
Hardcover
The Shortest History of Our Universe: The Unlikely Journey from the Big Bang to Us
Baker, David
Paperback
The Whispers of Rock: The Stories That Stone Tells about Our World and Our Lives
Khatwa, Anjana
Hardcover
The Call of the Honeyguide: What Science Tells Us about How to Live Well with the Rest of Life
Dunn, Rob
Hardcover
The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas, Revised Edition
Dennis, Jerry
Paperback
We Love You: An Optimistic Guide to Life on a Rock Floating Through Space
Sullivan, Thomas
Min, Andy
Hardcover
The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative
Williams, Florence
Paperback
Braiding Sweetgrass / Una Trenza de Hierba Sagrada: Sabiduría Indígena, Conocimiento Científico Y Las Enseñanzas de Las Plantas
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paperback
First Adirondackers: 12,000 Years of Indigenous Peoples in the Adirondack Uplands
Stager, Curt
Fadden, David Kanietakeron
Paperback
What Is Intelligence?: Lessons from AI about Evolution, Computing, and Minds
Aguera Y. Arcas, Blaise
Paperback
Werner's Nomenclature of Colours: Adapted to Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Anatomy, and the Arts
Syme, Patrick
Hardcover
Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science
Bergland, Renée
Paperback
The California Naturalist Handbook, Second Edition
Edelman, Deborah
De Nevers, Greg
Merenlender, Adina
Paperback
In the Range of Fire and Ice: A Human and Natural History of Washington's Cascades
Williams, David B.
Hardcover
Bonefish Dreams: Stories, Facts, and Tips from Travels to the World's Best Destinations
Foster, Frank
Paperback
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments
Nezhukumatathil, Aimee
Hardcover
Astonished by Beauty: A Field Guide to the Practice of Paying Attention
Fleischner, Thomas Lowe
Paperback
House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest
Childs, Craig
Paperback
Radically Wild: True Tales of Adventure, Wilderness Survival, and Hard Lessons
Sunderwald, Scott
Paperback
Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis
Proulx, Annie
Paperback
Permafrost Is an Archive: And Other Inheritances from the Alaska-Yukon Borderlands
Cook, Corinna
Paperback
National Geographic Backyard Guide to Edible Wild Plants
Hernandez, Mimi Prunella
Wood Buzzard, Heather
Paperback
Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid: The Fraught and Fascinating Biology of Climate Change
Hanson, Thor
Paperback
Seabirds as Sentinels: Auklets, Puffins, Shearwaters, and the View from Destruction Island
Wagner, Eric
Hardcover
Kinship Medicine: Cultivating Interdependence to Heal the Earth and Ourselves
Johnson, Wendy, MD MPH
Paperback
The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit
Kumar, Priyanka
Hardcover
Plants That Kill: A Natural History of the World's Most Poisonous Plants
Dauncey, Elizabeth A.
Larsson, Sonny
Hardcover
The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks
Williams, Terry Tempest
Paperback
The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert
Childs, Craig
Paperback
The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion--Surprising Observations of a Hidden World
Wohlleben, Peter
Paperback