100 Natural Wonders of the World

Let's face it -- few of us can go to view in person most of the wonderful sights this world has to offer; time is a problem, and, of course, money. But just for £20 (or less) there is a highly reasonable alternative: it's called 100 Natural Wonders of the World, and this sumptuous A A production is a low-cost ticket to enjoy such delights -- all from the comfort of your armchair. From the thunderous rush of Victoria Falls to the (literally) breathtaking heights of Mount Everest, and from the wonders of Mount Kenya National Park to the sultry Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, the concise but approachable text here has the capacity to transport us.

Of course, however well written the text is (and the team here is nonpareil) the photography in a book such as this is an absolutely key element, and here 100 Natural Wonders of the World delivers (although some may have preferred not to have blocks of text over some of the images, reducing their impact). In many ways, of course, books such as this are a celebration of what remains of the natural world, constantly under threat from those nations (both East and West) who thoughtlessly continue to squander the world's natural resources. How long, for instance will the spectacular bowl of the Ngorongo boast its amazing collection of leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, elephants, buffalo and zebras?

There is a considerable amount of arcane information freighted in here: if you need to know what is the highest single drop waterfall in the world -- or when the Sahara become a desert -- or how the hexagonal stone pillars of the Giant's Causeway were really formed -- the answers to those (and myriad other questions) are to be found here. --Barry Forshaw

View other editions of 100 Natural Wonders of the World.
View books by Pradipta Sarkar, Nishat Fatima, Sankar Sridhar.