Customer Reviews

Soldiers Delight Journal: Exploring a Globally Rare Ecosystem (Pitt Series in Nature & Natural History)

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Discount this review as you will; I must confess that I've known Jack for a number of years... Nonetheless, it's a beatutiful work. While some reviewers have compared him to Thoreau, I wouldn't go that far. But his love for the small deails of an eccosystm comes through exquisitly. As the title implies, Jack cronicles his frequent trips to Soldiers's Delight, a sort-of protected park near his home. It includes the geologic history of the area, as well as the history of human impact. And does a good job of riding the line between science and simple love for a place on the planet. It's clear to the reader that Jack loves the place, and his detailed, but not judgemental, descriptions of everything from the beauty of salamanders to piles of junk put you there. Maybe Jack isn't the next Thoreau. This book makes me think more of Hemmingway. A sort of restrained exuberance, and an economy of language that takes the reader into a place worth seeing. --del

This books records the author's observations and ruminations during the course of one year in a small natural reserve near Baltimore -- Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area. Written as a naturalist's journal, it easily reminds one of Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac" or Joseph Wood Krutch's "Twelve Seasons", and several other such nature writings. It is especially of interest to me because the place is near where I live (although I have not yet visited this park).

The author's knowledge of the environment and the species that live in it is at once vast and intimate. I would undoubtedly overlook many of the animals and plants he describes so vividly in this book. Like the author said in the introduction, life is unutterably dull without the potential for discovery. It is amazing how much one can observe in and learn from just a small patch of land. It is sad that, of the once vast serpentine prairie, today only tiny and disconnected remnants such as Soldiers Delight remain. But it is also gratifying and uplifting that, after reading this book, we once again discover that many species still survive (if not thrive) in these fragile ecosystems.

This is not a field guide. It is a literary work in the tradition of Thoreau, Leopold and Krutch. But since it records the animals, plants and rocks of this area in intricate details and according to the time of the year, it can actually be used as a field guide. The illustrations in this book, though not many, are also of very fine quality, which makes is even more enjoyable. I am sure when I visit Soldiers Delight NEA, I will carry one in my backpack.

A very detailed look at a beautiful area of the world. The writing makes you feel like you have been there. Lots of research in this one. Relax and enjoy the get-away.