Author(s): Patrick Roberts

Environment & Climate

A new and ambitious history of the world that reveals the deep-rooted and symbiotic relationship between humankind and tropical forest

Jungle is a new and ambitious history of the world, telling the remarkable story of the world's tropical forests from the arrival of the first plants millions of years ago to the role of tropical forests in the evolution of the world's atmosphere, the dinosaurs, the first mammals and even our own species and ancestors.

Highlighting provocative new evidence garnered from cutting-edge research, Dr Roberts shows, for example, that our view of humans as 'savannah specialists' is wildly wrong, and that the 'Anthropocene' began not with the Industrial Revolution, but as early as 6,000 years ago in the tropics.

We see that the relationship between humankind and rainforest is deep-rooted, that we are all connected to their destruction, and how we must all act to save them.

Urgent, clear-sighted and original, Jungle challenges the way we think about the world - and ourselves.