This is a broad scope natural history of the eastern United States in spring. There are few books which address the full spectrum of the natural world through a season, much less an entire portion of a continent. This author has the in-depth knowledge to do that, and it makes a very good read. From it, a reader gets the ecological dependencies among the plants and animals observed, and of their requirements for a healthy natural community. This book was written before Rachael Carson was well known and before the deep affects human activities on the natural world was widely known. But the author was aware of the vast affects that humans had had on the living natural communities through which he and his wife journeyed one spring. Many examples are given of healthy natural areas, and also of blighted natural areas due to human activity. Written back in the mid 1950s, the book provides a good index on the extent of the alteration of our world by ourselves at that time. Compared to today, many of the places described, teeming with life, are very pleasant to read about.

I recommend this book along with Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac for a good footing on the natural world of America and how it functions and how it is often degraded. Most importantly, these two books provide an insight to the time scale of both degradation, and the time scale of recovery, and the intricacies involved between the two conditions.

On a simpler perspective, the book is enjoyable simply for its pleasant natural world travelogue. It would be difficult to repeat this journey and come across so many pleasant times. There are other more recent books that do just that, but mostly their travels have to be planned around the places that are no longer in the top tier of places to visit.

There is a map of the route travelled in the front of the book. Chapter organization and a good index are provided. Illustrations are in the form of black and white photos, not very many and slightly clumped together for printing convenience. ( )

This has been on my bookshelf for years, along with the other three seasons, and I've just about finished Spring. Written so long ago, it reads like a who's who of America's naturalists, as Teale and his wife meet up with people along their trip. Even in 1951, Teale was alarmed by some of the changes/habitat destruction he saw from earlier trips. But the book primarily is a positive celebration of the diversity they found from Florida to Maine. One of the reasons I had put off reading it was because I was afraid it might be what I call "too dense" - that is too much scientific detail, too textbook-like. I was happy to find that while there is some of that (that's why i gave it only of 1/2 of the fifth star) it really is a very readable book. I hope no one tries to duplicate his trip - I'm sure 99% of the habitats and 50% of the species exist no longer. Reading Teale's chapters on the unspoilt wilderness of Florida I kept thinking of all Carl Hiaasen's books (except the new golf book). ( )