An extraordinary collaboration over 15 years, the project represented by this book is associated with an initiative by UNESCO's World Heritage Centre to identify and preserve (and address threats to preservation) the natural and cultural wealth of the Altai Mountains region along Mongolia's borders with Russia and China. Affiliated with the U. of Oregon, Esther Jacobson-Tepfer (emeritus, art history) and James E. Meacham (geography), along with photographer Gary Tepfer, have together created a narrative describing the 12,000-year old history, visual documentation in photos of sites and artifacts, and the best maps describing human and physical geography that current technology can create. Their work is presented in an oversize volume (11x11"), with an accompanying website. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)