African Odyssey: 365 Days
Anup and Manoj Shah (Harry N. Abrams // $29.95)
When the dry season arrives on the plains of Kenya and Tanzania, 2 million animals are set in motion. Eager to exchange their dusty breeding grounds in the southern Serengeti for wetter climes, massive herds of wildebeests, zebras and Thomson’s gazelles launch an epic migration toward the greener grass of the northern plains. In African Odyssey, photographers and authors Anup and Manoj Shah document the great migration through the 15,400-square-mile Greater Serengeti Ecosystem. Stunning images of wildlife at work and play grace 365 full-color spreads. Follow this circular journey and witness the circle of life.
—Jennifer Winger
Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming Is Changing the World
Gary Braasch (University of California // $34.95)
Six years ago, photojournalist Gary Braasch began a trip around the world to document climate change through the lens of his camera. What he saw was evidence of receding glaciers, eroding coastlines, rising sea levels and thawing permafrost. From rookeries emptied of Adelie penguins to isle-bound villages sliding into the sea, Braasch collected visual proof of global change. More than 100 full-color photographs — including some dramatic before-and-after shots — bring climate change to life. Braasch, along with a stable of conservation biologists and climatologists, shows that a cleaner, cooler world is possible, but it will happen by choice, not by chance.
—J.W.
The World Without Us
Alan Weisman (Thomas Dunne Books // $24.95)
How would the natural world respond if humans were no more? That is the premise behind Alan Weisman’s latest book, The World Without Us. By investigating places already devoid of humans, Weisman uses hard science to speculate on how nature would stretch its legs in a depopulated world. He finds signs of nature’s resilience everywhere, from Korea’s Demilitarized Zone, which has become a wildlife refuge for rare species like Asiatic black bears and Eurasian lynx, to the Soviet Union, where swallows and skylarks returned only a year after they were silenced by Chernobyl’s radioactive blast. Weisman’s mind-boggling, if somewhat macabre, thought experiment showcases the power and persistence of a nature unharnessed.
—David Connell
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