"McGill contributes an essay that introduces Heizer and his work, tells the history of ancient effigy mounds, describes the complex negotiations that were required to bring this vast public artwork to completion, and explains how it was built. The story brings together a diverse cast of characters : Edmund Thornton, the mining executive whose efforts made the work possible; Eva Pape, the curator whose idea it was to make a sculpture park on ruined land belonging to Thornton's company; and Heizer himself, an artist of clear vision and vast ambition. Heizer's photographs, taken both from the ground and from the air, along with drawings, blueprints, and preparatory models, with explanatory captions, document the making of Effigy Tumuli from design to construction and capture the feeling of the sculptures in the landscape." -- publisher's statement. 154 images, 72 in color.