An introduction to the characteristics of deserts and the plants and animals that inhabit them.

Deserts make up a third of the planet's land surface, but if you picture a desert, what comes to mind? A sandy wasteland? A drought-parched dust bowl? An alien landscape devoid of all life forms? In this marvelous Very Short Introduction, geographer and popular science writer Nick Middleton reveals that deserts are places of immense natural charm and rich biodiversity. Typified by drought and extremes of temperature, they can be harsh and hostile,...

Contrast two of the world's most fascinating deserts, the Namib and Kalahari deserts in southern Africa. The Atlantic shoreline of the Namib Desert has been aptly named the Skeleton Coast. The Kalahari Desert includes the mighty Okavango River, which empties into the arid landscape and then disappears.

"Desert animals are built specifically for a harsh, arid environment. As global temperatures rise, however, Earth's deserts are changing, affecting desert animals' ability to survive. Readers will see examples of desert animals that are on the spectrum of threatened species, and an example of a animal species that tragically succumbed to extinction. The volume ends with a success story and information about how readers can help fight global warming....

"A groundbreaking study of the journalism startups that are challenging status quos across the country, from an activist video feed in Minneapolis to a watchdog news site in Memphis. A must-read for activists, entrepreneurs, and journalists who want to start local news outlets in their communities"--

"In the wake of the colossal acts of terrorism of the last decade, the legal historian and human rights lawyer Sadakat Kadri realized that many people in the West had ideas about the origins and implications of the shari'a, or Islamic law, that were hazy, contradictory, or simply wrong. Even as "shari'a" became a loaded word and an all-encompassing explanation, most of us remained ignorant of its true meaning. And we were doing this at our peril....

"Why did the Founding Fathers fail to include blacks and Indians in their cherished proposition that "all men are created equal"? Racism is the usual answer. Yet Nicholas Guyatt argues in Bind Us Apart that white liberals from the founding to the Civil War were not confident racists, but tortured reformers conscious of the damage that racism would do to the nation. Many tried to build a multiracial America in the early nineteenth century, but ultimately...

This 2016 follow-up to the 2006 documentary mini-series "Planet Earth" examines the natural features and wildlife found in various parts of the world, each of the six episodes corresponding to a different category of natural or man-made terrain (e.g., island, mountain, jungle, urban area, etc.).