A magnificent tour of the world's longest mountain range.

The Andes of South America is the youngest, longest, most varied mountain range on the planet. Its 4,500 miles of rock and ice, forests and deserts, smoldering volcanoes and razor-sharp granite spires span the same distance as New York to Moscow.

The Andes mountains are still in the full throes of formation. This dramatic process reveals itself in breathtaking forms thousands of feet high. The Andes examines this astonishing natural phenomenon with superb color photography and richly detailed text.

The Andes describes:

• The effects of the region's plate tectonics
• Ecuador's cloud forests and volcanoes
• Peru's windswept plateaus
• The canyons and wetlands along the Peru-Chile border
• The terrain from Amazon rainforest to the Pacific desert coast
• The Altiplano of Bolivia
• The mystery forest of the Great Patagonian Divide
• The fiords, islands, glaciers and steppes from Patagonia to Cape Horn.

Each chapter on a specific region begins with a comprehensive introduction explaining essential geological and environmental facts. Stunning color photographs of the region's landscape, plants and animals bear concise, explanatory captions.

The Andes is an expansive book that beautifully captures the extraordinary environments of this spectacular mountain range.