An extraordinary book, a combination of polemic and all-encompassing scholarship . . . What kept me fascinated here is Muir’s command of the history of trades, manufactures, and industries; of farming, sawing lumber, shipping, trapping, fishing; of the making of hats, shoes, linen, ropes, sails, paper, and more. Equally impressive and deftly imparted is her knowledge of plants and animals, their habits and requirements, and their links to us and to each other. Finally, she is lucid.