Islands in Space and Time.

Campbell describes his book as the story of "ten places of transcendent natural beauty, where life's bouquet is still redolent and life's signatures on the face of the land remain firm, at least for now." Each location is part of The Nature Conservancy's system of reserves and managed places called The Last Great Places. But this is not a report about TNC's reserves or management systems. Rather, as the author explains, these are "essays of place, descriptions of lingering wilderness ... islands in time and space that have become refuges for some of the varietous invocations of life."

Writing with the eye of a scientist and the insight of a poet, Campbell describes five sites in South and Central America, four in the United States, and one in Micronesia, with color photos of each. This is a book that attempts to speak hopefully about the future of these places but fails to conceal the author's fear that these bits of paradise are on the brink of oblivion.

This is a bittersweet book full of beauty and disappointment, where the reader discovers remarkable places, only to learn of their imminent loss. The lesson is clear: Pay attention to the special wild places Where you live. They too are vulnerable to development, and once lost are gone forever.