A sweeping new book by an ecologist reconstructs New York’s vanished landscapes, blending natural history with urban development in a sprawling 900,000-word narrative. The work examines how the city’s growth reshaped its ecosystems, offering a rare perspective on the land before modernization. For readers fascinated by environmental change and urban evolution, this ambitious project promises deep insights into the interplay between nature and human expansion. The sheer scale of the book mirrors the ambition of its subject—the transformation of an entire metropolis.
The ecologist Eric W. Sanderson surveys the historical landscape of New York in a new book that, at 900,000 words, is as massive as the city it chronicles.
