A map appears just after the introduction in 'The Tallgrass Prairie Reader” (University of Iowa Press, 352 pages, $25), and it reveals that Iowa was at one time all but wholly covered in tallgrass. Only Illinois came close to having a similar portion of its land given over to the same environment. It's striking to see, and it makes this impressive collection, edited by John T. Price, particularly relevant to Iowans.

Price has collected writing about the tallgrass prairie, primarily from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, but dating as far back as the 1600s. Autobiographical nonfiction makes up the bulk of the text, which means we are privy to the ways in which the tallgrass prairie-while it dominated the landscape, during and following its steep decline, and now as many seek to restore some of its grandeur-has affected individual lives. The cumulative effect allows us to see how the prairie has influenced all of our lives.

Native Iowan Drake Hokanson speaks to the underlying importance of the tallgrass prairie in 'Habits of the Grass:” '…[T]hese few square feet of original land cover represent something much deeper and older than mere human activity-of settlers and Indians alike-in the region. It may in fact be as old as the land itself. This ecosystem made…the entire agricultural economy and social structure of the region, and yet we pay it little mind.”

'The Tallgrass Prairie Reader” invites us to pay attention to this nearly lost landscape. It is a beautiful book that evokes the natural majesty of land on which we live.