Dr Patrick Roberts is W2 Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany. He completed his PhD at Oxford University, has worked in jungles across the world and has received numerous prestigious awards, including a European Research Council Starter Grant (?1.5 Million). He has written or co-authored 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and his work has featured on the BBC, Channel 4 and in The Times, among others. Author of the academic book Tropical Forest Prehistory, History and Modernity, this is his first for a trade audience.
Jungle is a bold, ambitious and truly wonderful history of the
world that shows the vital importance of tropical forests to life
on Earth
*Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees*
A fascinating story and a crucial revision of the momentous
importance of tropical forests to human history. Spanning from our
very evolution as a species, to the early stages of globalisation
and how we fill our kitchen cupboards today, we all owe far more to
jungles than we realise
*Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins*
There are many books on the history of trilobites and dinosaurs and
other animals, but so few on the history of plants. Here the
dynamic young scientist Patrick Roberts tackles the history of the
tropics, from the coal swamps of 300 million years ago, through the
co-evolutionary dance of dinosaurs and mammals and flowers, to how
our own human history has been shaped by vegetation. As
environments are changing rapidly around us today, this is a
timely, readable and highly relevant history that celebrates the
wonder and importance of jungles
*Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs*
Welcome to the 'Jungle' - a breath-taking book showing that
tropical forests were key to our evolution, provide fossil fuels
for our modern carbon-hungry society and ultimately must be
protected and restored if we are to have a future. This insightful
and captivating book will ensure you never take our jungles for
granted ever again
*Mark Maslin, author of How to Save Our Planet*
An enthralling jungle-journey from the origins of life on this
planet to the present day, Jungle provides a brilliant new
perspective on our interaction with tropical forests, placing them
at the centre of human experience - and it delivers a timely
warning about our abuse of the environment
*David Abulafia, author of The Great Sea*
Jungle sweeps the reader into the primordial heart of the earth, as
if the crucible of life welcomed you to its sanctuary. Its
revelations and stories will stir, rearrange and populate your mind
for years to come. As a book, it is a joy, pure intellectual
chocolate
*Paul Hawken, author of Drawdown*
Finally, a book on rainforests that does justice to their majesty
and importance. Patrick Roberts skilfully and lucidly shows why
tropical forests matter. He builds the case that people and
tropical forests are intimately linked, whether you live in the
rainforest or seemingly a world away. Those intricate links are
more important than ever today, with ending deforestation playing a
key role in solving the twin climate and biodiversity crises we
face this century
*Simon Lewis, co-author of The Human Planet*
Enormously ambitious, deeply researched, moves with great skill
from ecology and evolution to history and politics
*New Scientist*
Many European and American books and films imply that tropical
forests are incapable of sustainably supporting large human
societies. Jungle provides a superbly argued refutation of this
long-held view . . . a thrilling reappraisal of our origins and our
dependence on tropical forests
*Literary Review*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
