Taylor (journalism, Henderson State U.) takes us spelunking around the world in flooded and dry caves and, something the caving books of past decades missed, in China. Good writing, high (low?) adventure. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Discusses how caves are formed and what a spelunker might find while exploring a cavern.

Looks at the underground world of the Ozark Plateau, one of the world's richest cave regions, and discusses the natural history of the caves

Reed Environmental Writing Award Finalist, Southern Environmental Law Center, 2021 More than ten thousand known caves lie beneath the state of Tennessee according to the Tennessee Cave Survey, a nonprofit organization that catalogs and maps them. Thousands more riddle surrounding states. In Hidden Nature, Michael Ray Taylor tells the story of this vast underground wilderness. In addition to describing the sheer physical majesty of the region’s wild caverns and the concurrent joys and dangers of exploring them, he examines their rich natural history and scientific import, their relationship to clean water and a healthy surface environment, and their uncertain future. As a longtime caver and the author of three popular books related to caving—Cave Passages, Dark Life, and Caves—Taylor enjoys (for a journalist) unusual access to this secretive world. He is personally acquainted with many of the region’s most accomplished cave explorers and scientists, and they in turn are familiar with his popular writing on caves in books; in magazines such as Audubon, Outside, and Sports Illustrated; and on websites such as those of the Discovery Channel and the PBS science series Nova. Hidden Nature is structured as a comprehensive work of well-researched fact that reads like a personal narrative of the author’s long attraction to these caves and the people who dare enter their hidden chambers.

Exploring underground can be dangerous challenging, but today cavers can go deeper and farther through the world's cave systems than ever before. Wild Underground shows how to get started on this adventure activity. It explains the equipment needed, the skills you need to develop and practice, and importantly, how to stay safe in these challenging environments. The book includes real-life accounts of people who have faced danger and overcome disaster underground. And it shows just how rewarding caves and caving can be. Book jacket.