About the Author

• JOHN THOMPSON has written or contributed to more than a dozen titles for National Geographic Books, including Wildlands of the Upper South and America's Western Edge.
• RICHARD NOWITZ was a contract photographer for National Geographic World (now Kids) magazine and is a contributing photographer to the National Geographic Image Collection. He has been the principal photographer of more than 20 large-format photo and travel guides and in 1968 was honored by the Society of American Travel Writers as Travel Photographer of the Year.
• DIANA PARSELL and JENNY ROUGH updated the 2011 edition and contributed many sidebars. Parsell also wrote "Charting Your Trip."
• KAREN CARMICHAEL updated the 2014 edition.