A Desert Country Near the Sea: A Natural History of the Cape Region of Baja California

A Desert County Near The Seas is a prize-winning naturalist's personal guide to the flora, fauna, and history of a fascinating region. For fifteen years Ann Zwinger, winner of the John Burroughs Medal award, has been visiting the southern tip of Baja California, the long peninsula that juts southeast below the California-Mexico border. Captivated by the area's harsh beauty, it's dramatic contrast of arid desert and tropical sea, she has climbed its rocky, 5,000-foot mountains, explored its great variety of beaches and tidepools, trekked through miles of its cactus-covered low country, and come to know the people who live there and their turbulent history. Supplementing her acute observatrions and personal adventures with extensive research, including readings on the geology, botany, and marine biology of the region from the works of many other observers and visitors, Mrs. Zwinger has produced a book whose running text and many drawings - plus more than 40 photographs by her husband, Herman Zwinger - will delight the armchair adventurer, traveler, and naturalist, and whose detailed scientific information will be invaluable to students and researchers.