From Publishers Weekly
Until recently Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's oldest and deepest lake, remained nearly pristine because of its great depth. The construction of a cellulose plant on its southern shore and the advent of other sources of industrial and agricultural pollution, however, seriously threaten the ecological balance of the lake, which contains about one-fifth of all the fresh water on the earth. In the summer of 1990, National Book Award winner Matthiessen ( The Snow Leopard ), composer Paul Winter and a group of Russian environmentalists traveled around Baikal, which had previously been off limits to foreigners as well as to most citizens of the former Soviet Union. During the journey, Matthiessen kept a journal describing the lake, its flora and fauna and the people who live on its shores. Together, the brief text and 50 of Norton's spectacular color photographs make an eloquent plea for the preservation of one of the earth's great natural treasures; the foreword by poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, who was born in Siberia, is especially moving. The Sierra Club will donate a share of the book's proceeds to Baikal Watch, a nonprofit group dedicated to the preservation of Lake Baikal.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The largest, deepest, and oldest freshwater lake in the world is also unique in much of its ecosystem. Long a spiritual center for the natives of Siberia and Mongolia, Baikal has recently become a focus for an emerging Soviet conservation movement. Noted author and traveler Matthiessen ( Far Tortuga , LJ 4/15/75) visited Baikal in August 1990 and kept a journal from which this work evolved. Enriched by color photos on nearly half the pages, plus numerous historical sidebars, this short work calls for the environmental defense of a treasure already damaged by industrial pollution. Baikal's condition is generating attention in the world's popular as well as scientific periodical literature, but this is the first English-language book to consider its plight. Recommended for public and academic libraries with an interest in international environmental issues.
- Roland Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., CarbondaleCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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