In Annals of a Former World, John McPhee has collected his four books on American geology in this, his magnum opus. His 650-page essay, much of it originally published in The New Yorker, recounts a geological field trip across the United States on Interstate 80, during which he was accompanied by several geologists. In the course of the journey, he combines travelogue, geologic history and human history with some of the finest writing I have come across. As a whole, it is simultaneously an admirable work of awe-inspiring description and astonishing detail and a frustratingly random compilation of theoretical research and overwhelming arcana.

Along the way, McPhee intersperses what he calls "set pieces" and "time lines," which place geological research in currently held theoretical and chronological contexts: the origins of coal and petroleum, the differences between field geologists and "black box" geologists, a reconstructed view of what Kansas may have looked like during the Middle Proterozoic era. He also interrupts his travels with riveting accounts of notable historical events, from the California Gold Rush to the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco. It is hard to imagine that a book on geologic history could be as fascinating and dazzlingly written as this is. What makes it even more of an achievement is the author’s ability to convey subject matter that is so complex and potentially dry in such an engrossing manner. In the course of the book, the reader begins to understand the vastness of geological time and the tremendous forces that were required to shape the landscape. Sometimes, the feat is accomplished with breathtaking ease, as when he states, “The summit of Mt. Everest is marine limestone.” This is a long book at almost 700 pages, and it is filled with complex terminology (I’m still not completely sure what an orogeny is), but it is well worth the effort. It will change the way you think about the world.