With its shimmering vistas of fog, light, and cityscape, San Francisco Bay is famous worldwide—yet very little known. The bay, together with its inland delta, is one of the largest estuaries in the Americas. It is a crucial bird habitat, a vital fishery, a major shipping center, a source of precious water, a playground for its cities, a natural treasure in trouble, and a stirring challenge to our human stewardship. John Hart’s lyrical writing and David Sanger’s eye-opening color photographs reveal this marvel hidden in plain sight—its varied past, its complicated present, and its promising future.

Join in these true travel adventures: Make a pilgrimage to see a 2,500-year-old tooth • Consider the fate of a three-legged elephant • Participate in a shamanic ayahuasca ritual • Talk alien spaceship propulsion with a SETI scientist, and many more • “Witty and compassionate” —Constance Hale • First Place, San Francisco Book Festival

Track lions on foot, without a gun, in Botswana • Taste-test the world’s most expensive coffee—which happens to be made from the excrement of a small Balinese mammal • Marry a Maasai warrior in Kenya • Search the Irish countryside for an erotic goddess • Escape a kidnapping in Tunisia • This storytelling is quirky, thoughtful, occasionally unsettling, often funny, and always appealing.

Witnessing the sweep of the Milky Way, the remains of comets burning up in our atmosphere, or the shimmering aurora, we better understand the universe and our place in it. Lonely Planet’s Dark Skies, the first world’s guide to astrotourism, can help you experience all of this and more first-hand. Meticulously researched by dark sky expert Valerie Stimac, this comprehensive companion includes guides to 35 dark-sky sites and national parks, where to see the aurora, the next decade of total solar eclipses and how to view rocket launches, plus the lowdown on commercial space flight, observatories and meteor showers.

“If you think you know everything about San Francisco… think again.” – ABC 7 News “Secret San Francisco is a fun and enjoyable guide with lots to impart.” – Lisa Crovo Dion (author), NancyDBrown (website) “Anyone who wants to get more from their time in the wonderful city of San Francisco (including residents) or simply to absorb quirky historical tidbits will appreciate Secret San Francisco: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure.” – Hilary Williamson, BookLoons

Unparalleled in scope and intimacy, Morton Beebe’s beautiful photographic excursion around his native San Francisco contains more than 200 full-color pictures of favorite sights in and around the City by the Bay, and essays by well-known San Franciscans capture the vitality and allure of this diverse and fascinating city. Now in its Third Edition, this popular classic has been substantially revised and expanded-with 90 new color photos and three new essays. For resident and visitor alike, this “brightly colored dazzle of a book” (Coast Book Review Service) offers an introduction to San Francisco that can’t be topped.