WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST
A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and
natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass
extinction unfolding before our eyes
Over the last half-billion years, there have been Five mass extinctions,
when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically
contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the
sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event
since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time
around, the cataclysm is us.
In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New
Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have
altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving
research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating
species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a
concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the
disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth
extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us
to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
