Brilliant!

Best popular science book I have read in a long time. Just solved my problem of what I will be getting my Mum for her birthday as well.

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Fascinating insight into invertebrates

I absolutely loved this audio book it covered a lot in a short time form insect diversity, ecology, uses for humans and impact of climate change . Very well narated and packed with information, a book I will be listening to again.

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very good and very informative!

I really enjoyed this book. It makes me with there were more just like it out there. Now i want to persue a career in entomology! Great listen.

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Utterly fascinating, brilliant narration

This book is gorgeous and absolutely fascinating - never thought I'd find myself saying that about a book on insects, but thanks to Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, I have such a newfound respect for bugs. I'm very much enjoying the gentle narrationby Kristin Milward, this book feels lik the perfect antidote to some of the heavy going crime fiction I've been reading lately. I'm learning so much about the incredibly vital role that the trillions of insects around us constantly play in actually helping our planet, it's people, animals and plants to even exist and it's helping me feel grounded and more connected to nature. It's very humbling to learn that without insects, including the ones that seem to be the most hated by us, the human race would cease to exist. There are honestly so many utterly fascinating facts crammed into this book (did you know that insects were around to see both the beginning and the end of dinosaurs? Or that Meal Worms can actually digest plastic? I did not!), it's very accessible in a way that absolutely anybody is able to read and enjoy without feeling overwhelmed by scientific words and I know I will be listening to it many times again. I also plan to purchase the hardback version, because I really want to see Carim Nahaboo's beautiful illustrations that for some reason did not come with this audio book. Harper Collins, please update the Audible book to include these?

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5 people found this helpful

An Extraordinary Book

Sex, horror, violence, slavery - you’ll find every human vice mentioned somewhere in this book.

The author has a natural gift for writing and the presentation of her subject. Without patronising her readers, she explains her subject with clarity and humour (I’ve laughed out aloud more than once).

Even if you only think about insects when you’ve been bitten or stung, or driven to distraction by a fly, you will find this book fascinating. It is informative and thought provoking and makes the reader realise the vital importance of insects to the life on this planet and the absolute insignificance of the human race in comparison.

I believe this to be the author’s first book - I sincerely hope it wont be her last.

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1 person found this helpful

Great book for everyone

Great book about insects for beginners as well as more knowledgeable folk. Narrator has very soft and pleasant voice.

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Hilarious and Informative

Loved it! Learned so much! The reader made it funny and even sexy! She was brilliant!

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A truly wonderful book

Eye opening and interesting, this page turner has filled me with a passion for the world of insects.

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Delightful and thought-provoking

Insects are fascinating and this book shares this fascination with enthusiasm, wit and scholarship. As entomology had formed part of my A level studies (in the early 1970s), I had some background knowledge of its subject matter. However, I am sure that this book would be equally accessible to those who have not studied them before. Entomology and ecology have moved on a long way since my time at school. For me, my fascination has been reinforced and extended. This book delights with its tales of the quirky, wonderful world of insects and it briefly touches on other arthropods. On a more serious note it also highlights the difficult future faced by many insects as part of their share in the ongoing anthropogenic mass extinction. While the world would be a poorer place without them for their own sake, the book also highlights particular ways in which their demise might contribute to the eventual downfall of our own species as part of the various climatological and ecological disasters of our own making that are currently brewing. I hope that this book reaches the wide audience it deserves. I also hope that it fosters more love and respect for these wonderful creatures.

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Looking down more often...

I loved this book; as a zoologist, I'm passionate about nature but this book definitely makes you take another glance down every now and again as you're walking (and not to keep looking at a phone screen) to investigate what you may or may not be treading on! I'd love to learn more!

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