Did you know that horseshoe crabs have been around for 200 million years? What enables mussels climb to steep slopes? And what is a Beetlebung tree? Natural wonders abound in Dorothy Sterling's fascinating 1967 homage to the Outer Lands, a peninsula and chain of islands along the New England coast. Beginning this eco-biography with the Ice Age and looking ahead thousands of years into the future, Sterling explores the marshes, dunes, ponds, and bays, while offering lyrical descriptions of the distinctive plants and animals that inhabit the region. Her frequent collaborator Winifred Lubell graces the book with lovely drawings, while in the foreword, Robert Finch fondly remembers Sterling.