Inheritors of the Earth - C. D. Thomas

THE TIMES, ECONOMIST AND GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017

It is accepted wisdom today that human beings have irrevocably damaged
the natural world. Yet what if this narrative obscures a more hopeful truth?

In Inheritors of the Earth,
renowned ecologist and environmentalist Chris D. Thomas overturns the accepted story, revealing how nature
is fighting back.

Many animals and plants actually benefit from our
presence, raising biological diversity in most parts of the world and
increasing the rate at which new species are formed, perhaps to the
highest level in Earth's history. From Costa Rican tropical forests to
the thoroughly transformed British landscape, nature is coping
surprisingly well in the human epoch.

Chris Thomas takes us on a
gripping round-the-world journey to meet the enterprising creatures that
are thriving in the Anthropocene, from York's ochre-coloured comma
butterfly to hybrid bison in North America, scarlet-beaked pukekos in
New Zealand, and Asian palms forming thickets in the European Alps. In
so doing, he questions our irrational persecution of so-called 'invasive
species', and shows us that we should not treat the Earth as a faded
masterpiece that we need to restore. After all, if life can recover from
the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs, might it not be able to
survive the onslaughts of a technological ape?

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.