A native of New York, Dreyfus (history, San Francisco State U.) has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for some 20 years, during which time his fascination with how San Francisco assumed its modern form--an intertwining of "urban" and "natural"--has grown. In this text, he presents a collection of interrelated stories about the people who have occupied the physical space of San Francisco over centuries, and about their relationship with nature, from the Native Americans who first inhabited the area to the environmental activists appearing on the scene in the 1950s and 1960s. While academic, the text is intended for an intelligent readership of nonhistorians to encourage critical thought about the relationship between urban civilization and our environmental well-being. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)