''Annals of the Former World'' is a book on

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

written by

John McPhee John Angus McPhee (born March 8, 1931) is an American writer. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the four ...

and published in 1998 by

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

. It won the 1999

Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...

. The book presents a geological history of North America, and was researched and written over the course of two decades beginning in 1978. It consists of a compilation of five books, the first four of which were previously published as ''Basin and Range'' (1981), ''In Suspect Terrain'' (1983), ''Rising from the Plains'' (1986), and ''Assembling California'' (1993), plus a final book, ''Crossing the Craton''. A narrative table of contents provides an overview of the project, which largely consisted of a series of road journeys by McPhee across the North American continent in the company of noted geologists.

References

External links

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Archived copy of ''Annals of the Former World'', formerly on John McPhee's website
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction-winning works 1998 non-fiction books Books about California Farrar, Straus and Giroux books Books by John McPhee {{geology-book-stub