Spanning 25,000 years and covering topics that range from Pleistocene glaciers to the ill-fated Donner Party, The Desert's Past presents the first complete synthesis of the environmental and human history of North America's Great Basin. Centering on Nevada, this region covers some 165,000 square miles and includes substantial parts of California, Oregon, and Utah. The Great Basin takes its name from the fact that its rivers flow inward rather than to the sea.

Offering an encyclopedic scope with a storyteller's tone, Donald K. Grayson recounts the historical development of the Great Basin. Beginning just before the last maximum advance of glaciers in North America, the author reconstructs the Great Basin's defining environmental features. He catalogs the existence of such mammals as lions, camels, and mammoths that once lived in this region - and discusses the rise and fall of huge lakes that were once found here.

He also characterizes some 11,500 years of human history within the Great Basin and shows that this history is inseparably linked to the past environments of this region. Whether revealing the wonders accumulated by ancient packrats, discussing the advent of European influence and disease, or tracing the origin of the Bonneville Salt Flats (where virtually all landspeed records have been set), Grayson's compelling narrative recreates the world of the Great Basin.