Tremendous.

Great!!!!

I first encountered this book when my bestfriend's boyfriend carried it with him on a visit to Boulder, Colorado. I distinctly remembered the cover, and that it had to do with the geology of North America, but could not remember the title or author. Thankfully, this past Christmas I stumbled on the book and purchased it. I loved geology as a child; the Deep History always fascinated me, but a number of science teachers I did not like sadly kept me away from studying geology further. This book reignited that passion. One recommendation: buy this as an ebook, so that you have access to the Internet or Google Earth, so that you can get a better visual impression of what the author discusses. This is not a book for the faint of heart; it may require some outside learning to bolster one's understanding, and although beautifully and lovingly rendering impressions of how the Earth moves, this little bit of outside research only deepens the love and appreciation for this work. I cannot praise it enough.

Imagine the history of our Earth cast in the style of an erudite, minutely detailed, vastly sensual, impeccably researched, truth-based, scientifically-focused Fantasy Meets Spy-Novel Meets Essential Textbook (if Einstein did graphic novels without pictures and you couldn't stop reading) and you get an idea of this nimble, massive eminently readable work. A book to read time and again, and dip into for wondrous facts and beautiful writing. I have had five hard-copies of this book, given four away, and now purchase the digital version to have it portable. Buy. Read. Enjoy.