How did a nation built on a vision of "wide open spaces" come to believe in the private ownership of land? Mitchell, one of America's finest nature writers, explores this question in his fascinating & beautifully told story. Building upon the heartbreaking story of a tribe of "praying Indians" who bought into the colonists' legal system and settled their own 2000-acre tract, only to be dispossessed and herded into a detention camp, he explores every variation of this important issue. From the beginning of British common law and up to the most recent Supreme Court 'takings' decisions, Trespassing follows the evolution of our attitudes toward land. A hilarious visit to the Mitchell ancestral manor in Scotland, a brilliant panorama of the vast grid into which we carved the once unbroken Great Plains and mountains of the West, a surreal excursion to a Native American reservation now developed into a mammoth casino, as well as fiery encounters between developers and conservationists -- these are among the highlights of a highly entertaining journey.