TIME-LIFE: THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS

11 Mar



I have looked through a lot of old books about camping, the outdoors, etc., and I have yet to find any that are as good looking as the Time-Life: American Wilderness series. Pictures and writing are both wonderful. (Ed Abbey edited the “Cactus Country” edition.) The best part about these book is that they’re not too hard to find at your local thrift/used book shop, but if you’re not near one of those, go on over to your favorite online auctioneer and pick a few out.

Y’all have some of these? Got a favorite?

5 Responses to “TIME-LIFE: THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS”

  1. Mark Beziehung March 11, 2010 at 9:10 am #

    I did not have much expert in camping or setting branches of fire, but then my little son asked me when we will go camping and I could not resist his small poppy eyes. So I had to buy some book to get ready for our trip. The book shop I went to had wide selection of guides and survival books. In the end I chose Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive by Les Stroud. It was excellent choice. It had exactly what I needed for our trip. Only thing which could be improved is the section about a driver getting stuck. Overall I recommend it without hesitation.

  2. Angelo R. March 11, 2010 at 11:30 am #

    I have the entire set. North Woods, Northwest Coast, and Grand Canyon are some of my favorites…but they are all good.

  3. brendan March 11, 2010 at 7:41 pm #

    northeast coast, new england wilds

  4. Robert February 3, 2011 at 6:04 pm #

    They’re all great. There are a few inconsistencies here and there as might come up in a ‘corporate’ set with mostly stock photography, but this is maybe the best of the TL sets.

    I like the north woods esp., also wild Alaska.

    There was a series prepared, I believe, by TL Netherlands called “the world’s wild places” which covers various areas around the world in an identical format. Volumes from this series are also included in slightly renamed form: “The American North Woods”, etc. Of this series I like “soviet deserts and mountains”, “Lapland”, etc…

  5. Evan July 31, 2011 at 2:06 pm #

    Great series, if rather out-dated. The Cactus Country volume is not only edited by Edward Abbey, he wrote all but two chapters. The book is basically his “Desert Solitaire” volume II, the SE Arizona version.

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