A World Elsewhere: Life in the American Southwest

In this lively yet systematic commentary, a Welshman surveys the American Southwest with the steady, perceptive eye of a stranger who has grown to appreciate it. He finds in its history and topography signs that nature still holds its own against the human hand. "One is aware that such immense landscapes must exist—but until one views them for oneself it is impossible to grasp their impressiveness, or experience their liberating quality."

White is equally fascinated with the people who have ...