This superb new collection ranges from the tiniest details of animal behaviour to the likely fate of the planet, yet every piece is classic Wilson, combining an intense scientific rigour with an extraordinary empathy for the natural world. A collection of essays of elegance, lucidity and breadth...A teeming anthill of beautiful ideas about the links between 'wild nature' and 'human nature' - Independent Excellent...Those who have not read his ecological masterpiece, The Diversity of Life, will be able to sample for the first time, in miniature, the passion and command with which he describes the frail beauty and interconnectedness of living systems - Ian McEwan, Financial Times