The River of the Mother of God: and other Essays by Aldo Leopold (Paperback)

by Aldo Leopold (Author), J. Baird Callicott (Editor), Susan L. Flader (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This collection of conservationist Leopold's ( A Sand County Almanac ) writings, spanning the years 1904-1947, traces the development of his environmentalism. Illustrations.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Leopold was a renowned conservationist and educator who devoted his life to preservation of the natural environment. His classic work, Sand County Almanac (1949; Oxford Univ. Pr., 1989. pap.), is still used as the conservationists' bible. Flader and Callicott have compiled a collection of Leopold's unpublished essays from the archives of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and published papers from a variety of periodicals covering the years 1904-47. The chronological arrangement of the 59 essays reveals the development of Leopold's beliefs over time. A short introduction describing the circumstances in which it was written and the intended audience precedes each essay. A biographical chronology and the introduction trace Leopold's life. Recommended for environmental collections.
-Irwin Weintraub, Rutgers Univ. Libs., Piscataway,
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press (December 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299127648
• ISBN-13: 978-0299127640
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,671 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear thinking, eloquent writing, October 26, 1999

By	Daniel F. Styer (Oberlin, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Sand County Almanac" presents Leopold's thoughts and impressions concerning nature and conservation. This book shows Leopold in a far wider context. Leopold held many jobs and had many hobbies in his full life: forest ranger, administrator, hunter, game manager, laboratory director, wilderness traveler, professor. Every time he encountered a new situation he thought about it deeply and creatively, and recorded his thoughts in vivid, non-technical essays, many of which are collected in this book.

I was particulaly impressed by Leopold's thoughtfullness -- that he reached his conclusions not by following the majority nor by catering to the powerful nor by jerking his knee, but by deep and clear thinking. Reading these essays renders vivid the fact that current public discourse is dominated by power play and snide insults rather than by civil, reasoned debate.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Prophetic Words of Aldo Leopold, August 21, 2004

By	MZ (Novinger, MO United States) - See all my reviews

Readers of outdoor ethics and conservation philosophy have likely seen collections of Aldo Leopold's essays elsewhere, but I doubt you will find a more diverse and wide-ranging collection than this. Browse the brief chronologic summary of his life and then skip the lengthy introduction (for now), and you will get to the meat of this book. It starts with an essay written by Aldo Leopold as a high school student. From there, the path of essays winds its way like a river through his life, with many stops along the way. The reader can see how Mr. Leopold's outlook matured and changed over time; from such things as a letter to a newspaper editor, to my favorite: an introductory lecture from the first college course he taught. What I would give to go back in time and be a student in that classroom!

Aldo Leopold may be gone, but his body of work remains. His written work has proven to be prophetic. We still face many of the same conservation problems that we faced in the early 1900s; some of these problems have worsened. As a society, we have to realize that we cannot go on repeating our past mistakes. There are solutions to these problems. And the words of Aldo Leopold hold some of the answers.