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Extraordinary Insects cover art

Extraordinary Insects

By: Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Lucy Moffatt - translator
Narrated by: Kristin Milward
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Summary

The Sunday Times best seller.

A Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year 2019.

A journey into the weird, wonderful and truly astonishing lives of the small but mighty creatures who keep the world turning.

Out of sight, underfoot, unseen beyond fleeting scuttles or darting flights, insects occupy a hidden world, yet are essential to sustaining life on earth.

Insects influence our ecosystem like a ripple effect on water. They arrived when life first moved to dry land, they preceded – and survived – the dinosaurs, they outnumber the grains of sand on all the world’s beaches, and they will be here long after us.

Working quietly but tirelessly, they give us food, uphold our ecosystems, can heal our wounds and even digest plastic. They could also provide us with new solutions to the antibiotics crisis, assist in disaster zones and inspire airforce engineers with their flying techniques.

But their private lives are also full of fun, intrigue and wonder – musical mating rituals; house-hunting for armies of beetle babies; metamorphosing into new characters; throwing parties in fermenting sap; cultivating fungi for food; farming smaller species for honey dew and always ensuring that what is dead is decomposed, ready to become life once again.

Here, we will discover life and death, drama and dreams, all on a millimetric scale. Like it or not, Earth is the planet of insects, and this is their extraordinary story.

©2019 Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"Extraordinary Insects is a joy." (The Times)

"Erudite, enlightening and entertaining...a timely reminder of the fragility of our ecosystem and the vital role that insects play in the future of the planet and humanity’s existence." (Countryman)

"Extraordinary Insects is packed with wondrous information. There are more than 200 million insects on Earth for every human being and anyone wanting to learn more about them will find this book fascinating’ (Daily Express)

What listeners say about Extraordinary Insects

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Not for enthusiasts or biologists

For someone who doesn’t know anything about insects, this book could well blow your mind; but it’s important to be clear that the audience for this book cannot be anyone who has an interest in scientific thinking.

The book is well written and the performance is good; however, it was not what I (admittedly, optimistically) expected after reading the blurb.

For context, I have a keen interest in nature and have done for many years. I am also studying for a Biology degree, but I am by no means an entomologist, nor an expert in any field.

Rather than a robust scientific overview of the insect order, I found the book to be a series of (mostly wacky) facts that I generally already knew just from watching Attenborough documentaries. The book is constantly comparing insects to us humans and talking as if they think, act like, and have the same motivations as us. Anthropomorphism is difficult to avoid, and I understand it making concepts easier to relate to layman’s, but it is also frowned upon in the scientific community.

Whilst I’m sure there is some kind of bibliography in the physical book, instead of citing specific peer reviewed articles, the author often writes ‘studies show that...’, which will give you an idea of the type of book this is. It’s not that I dispute the facts stated within, it’s that The author has made it difficult to do any further research on my own; doesn’t give credit where it’s due; and doesn’t go into any great detail on the ‘why’ behind all of the facts presented.

Rather than ‘pop science’, I’m going with ‘tabloid science’.

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12 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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

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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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brilliant primer on entomology

humorous and informative and one of the best popular science books on entomology a great investment. the cover is similarly exquisite.

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Wonderful

I absolutely love this book. I wasn’t sure whether it would have enough in it to suit a keen entomologist, but it definitely does! It’s written in such an easy to understand style that, as well as being packed full of fascinating facts, is also really easy for anyone without any prior knowledge of insects to follow.

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Excellent look into an often hidden world

this book offers insight into an often hidden world of insects the author makes it accessible interesting and lays out a lot of the history and importance of insects as they relate to the environment in general seeing insects through this new light is a very revealing way to understand the most abundant form of animal life on Earth excellent book

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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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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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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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  • DM
  • 28-04-21

Insects are cool

This was a enjoyable listen, good to pop on for short spells while you're doing the washing up or similar. Though it's short, it took me a while to get through it, as there is no narrative to hook the listener and carry them along. Rather, it's a collection of fascinating facts about our invertebrate friends... which may change the way you see the little guys.

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