A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There
Few books have had a greater impact than A Sand County Almanac, which many credit with launching a revolution in land management. Written as a series of sketches based principally upon the flora and fauna in a rural part of Wisconsin, the book, originally published by Oxford in 1949, gathers informal pieces written by Leopold over a forty-year period as he traveled through the woodlands of Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Sonora, Oregon, Manitoba, and elsewhere; a final section addresses the philosophical issues involved in wildlife conservation. Beloved for its description and evocation of the natural world, Leopold's book, which has sold well over 2 million copies, remains a foundational text in environmental science and a national treasure.
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Community Reviews
A Profound Tribute to Nature and Stewardship
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold is a timeless and beautifully written meditation on the natural world and our relationship with it. Blending ecology, philosophy, and poetic observation, Leopold invites readers into his deep love for the land and challenges us to rethink how we interact with nature.
What makes this book so powerful is its quiet wisdom. Leopold doesn’t lecture; he reflects. His essays, particularly “The Land Ethic,” remain incredibly relevant today as we face global environmental challenges. Through vivid depictions of Wisconsin woodlands and broader musings on conservation, he paints a picture of nature not as a resource to be used, but as a community to which we belong.
This is not just a book—it’s a call to awareness, respect, and responsibility. Whether you're a lifelong naturalist or someone just beginning to explore environmental thought, A Sand County Almanac is a must-read. It changes how you see the world around you.
It was fun to finally read these essays, but I think I would have done better with them in print. The narrator had some really quirky pronunciations of words, especially plant/animal names and that was super distracting for me. But I can check it off my list.
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