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Annals of the Former World

14 minJohn McPhee

What's it about

Ever wondered how the mountains, valleys, and coastlines you see every day came to be? Uncover the epic, billion-year story hidden just beneath your feet and learn to read the landscape like a geologist, revealing the violent, beautiful history that shaped the world we know. This summary of John McPhee's Pulitzer Prize-winning work takes you on a cross-country road trip along Interstate 80. You’ll explore the dynamic forces of plate tectonics, the immense scale of geologic time, and the fascinating stories of the scientists who pieced this planetary puzzle together.

Meet the author

John McPhee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning master of nonfiction and a legendary staff writer for The New Yorker, celebrated for his pioneering contributions to creative nonfiction. For decades, he crisscrossed the North American continent with geologists, translating their complex science into a lyrical and accessible narrative. This immersive, on-the-ground reporting allowed him to capture not just the facts of geology, but the human stories and grand, poetic sweep of the Earth's deep history, culminating in his masterwork, Annals of the Former World.

Annals of the Former World book cover

What's it about

Ever wondered how the mountains, valleys, and coastlines you see every day came to be? Uncover the epic, billion-year story hidden just beneath your feet and learn to read the landscape like a geologist, revealing the violent, beautiful history that shaped the world we know. This summary of John McPhee's Pulitzer Prize-winning work takes you on a cross-country road trip along Interstate 80. You’ll explore the dynamic forces of plate tectonics, the immense scale of geologic time, and the fascinating stories of the scientists who pieced this planetary puzzle together.

Meet the author

John McPhee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning master of nonfiction and a legendary staff writer for The New Yorker, celebrated for his pioneering contributions to creative nonfiction. For decades, he crisscrossed the North American continent with geologists, translating their complex science into a lyrical and accessible narrative. This immersive, on-the-ground reporting allowed him to capture not just the facts of geology, but the human stories and grand, poetic sweep of the Earth's deep history, culminating in his masterwork, Annals of the Former World.