Inheritors of the Earth

Summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Inheritors of the Earth by Chris D. Thomas, read by Leighton Pugh.

THE TIMES, ECONOMIST AND GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017

It is accepted wisdom today that human beings have irrevocably damaged the natural world. We have altered our climate, acidified our oceans, and we are in the process of causing the sixth mass extinction. Yet what if this gloomy narrative obscures a more hopeful truth? In Inheritors of the Earth, renowned ecologist and environmentalist Chris D. Thomas overturns this loss-only view of the world's biodiversity, revealing how many animals and plants have benefited from the human-altered planet.

Taking us on a round-the-world journey to meet the enterprising animals and plants that are thriving in the Anthropocene, from York's ochre-coloured comma butterfly to the hybrid American bison and the scarlet-beaked New Zealand pukeko, Thomas questions why we resist the success of so-called 'invasive species', and why we see human activities as fundamentally unnatural. Combining a naturalist's eye for wildlife with an ecologist's wide lens, Chris Thomas forces us to re-examine humanity's relationship with nature, and reminds us that the story of life is the story of change.

An immensely significant book. It is fluently written, carefully thought through, ruthlessly argued, neatly illustrated with case studies - and shockingly contrarian - Matt Ridley, The Times (Book of the Week)

His flowing narrative is rich in stories of his fieldwork round the world ... Thomas's vision ... aspires to something nobler, more optimistic - Fred Pearce, New Scientist

Fascinating ... Chris Thomas examines our human relationships with nature, bad and good, and sets out a more hopeful truth to current narratives and alarms ... This is a rich and timely tale, fearless too, with examples and cases drawn from ecosystems across the world - Prof Jules Pretty, Times Higher Education