Two Eagles / Dos Aguilas: A Natural History of the United States–Mexico Borderlands - Hardcover

Blake, Tupper Ansel; Steinhart, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520084829 ISBN 13: 9780520084827

Publisher: University of California Press, 1994

Synopsis

Blake's stunning photography reveals the remarkable diversity of life and terrain within the lands along the U.S.-Mexico border; Steinhart's inspired text provides environmental awareness and an understanding of the role that humans have played. Together they offer a reminder that the region's human and natural history cannot be separated.

Two kinds of experiences await the reader in this moving and beautiful book—those for the eye and those for the mind. Tupper Ansel Blake's stunning photography reveals the remarkable diversity of life and terrain within the lands that lie along the United States-Mexico border; Peter Steinhart's inspired text provides regional history, environmental awareness, and an understanding of the role that humans have played there.

The 2,000-mile swath shared by the United States and Mexico is often dismissed as one of worthless scrub, or as a hostile no-man's-land populated by border patrols and furtive immigrants. It is in fact among the richest, most biologically diverse, and most endangered areas in all of North America. Tropical and temperate zones overlap in the borderlands—ocelots and parrots, black bears and elk all make their homes there. It is a region not just of cactus and mesquite, but of pine forests, oak woodlands, lush grasslands, and riverside groves of cottonwood and sycamore. Equally diverse are the people of the borderlands, many of whom share a long heritage of living with the land without despoiling it.

If our political view of the borderlands has hidden from us its beauty and fragility, then Two Eagles/Dos Aguilas will reopen our eyes. The recent North American Free Trade Agreement is a reminder that the region's human and natural history cannot be separated, and that the political boundary between the two nations casts a long shadow over the bald eagle of the United States and the caracara, the eagle of Mexico.

About this title

About the Author:

Tupper Ansel Blake is a prize-winning wildlife photographer and coauthor of Wild California: Vanishing Lands, Vanishing Wildlife (California, 1985). Peter Steinhart is a freelance writer specializing in natural history and environmental issues. He was an editor and long-time contributor to Audubon magazine. Blake and Steinhart are coauthors of Tracks in the Sky: Wildlife and Wetlands of the Pacific Flyway (1987). John C. Sawhill is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Nature Conservancy.

From Library Journal:

This large-format book combines 170 predominantly color photographs by Blake with text by Steinhart, also collaborators on Tracks in the Sky: Wildlife and Wetlands of the Pacific Flyway (Chronicle, 1987). An area with a surprising amount of biodiversity, the Mexican/ American border region is coming under increasing pressure from developers, migrants, and residents attempting to eke out a living from scarce resources. The concise, insightful text is well integrated with spectacular photos of wildlife and landscape, elevating the work from mere "coffee-table book" status. Because Steinhart makes it clear that solving the region's problems will require the participation of local residents and government officials, it is ironic that the photos exclude people. Succeeding on both aesthetic and scholarly levels, this work includes a handy species list with common and scientific names for plants and animals. Essential for regional and subject collections and highly recommended for all others.
Tim Markus, Evergreen State Coll. Lib., Olympia, Wash.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0520084829
• ISBN 13: 9780520084827
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 204