About the Book

In Europe: A Natural History, world-renowned scientist, explorer, and conservationist Tim Flannery applies the eloquent interdisciplinary approach he used in his ecological histories of Australia and North America to the story of Europe. He begins 100 million years ago, when the continents of Asia, North America, and Africa interacted to create an island archipelago that would later become the Europe we know today. It was on these ancient tropical lands that the first distinctly European organisms evolved. Flannery teaches us about Europe’s midwife toad, which has endured since the continent’s beginning, while elephants, crocodiles, and giant sharks have come and gone. He explores the monumental changes wrought by the devastating comet strike and shows how rapid atmospheric shifts transformed the European archipelago into a single landmass during the Eocene.

As the story moves through millions of years of evolutionary history, Flannery eventually turns to our own species, describing the immense impact humans had on the continent’s flora and fauna—within 30,000 years of our arrival in Europe, the woolly rhino, the cave bear, and the giant elk, among others, would disappear completely. The story continues right up to the present, as Flannery describes Europe’s leading role in wildlife restoration, and then looks ahead to ponder the continent’s future: with advancements in gene editing technology, European scientists are working to recreate some of the continent’s lost creatures, such as the great ox of Europe’s primeval forests and even the woolly mammoth.

Written with Flannery’s characteristic combination of elegant prose and scientific expertise, Europe: A Natural History narrates the dramatic natural history and dynamic evolution of one of the most influential places on Earth.

Advance Praise for Europe: A Natural History

“Flannery pulls back the curtain on Europe’s past environments, while also giving a glimpse of its possible future, in this marvelous work…[he] shares a plethora of surprising facts…[Europe] should attract any reader interested in the past and future of the natural world.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Praise for Tim Flannery

“Tim Flannery is the real thing: a man with a gift for lucid exposition, who can really make his subject come alive.” –Literary Review

“Thoughtful, candid and—yes—ultimately upbeat, Atmosphere of Hope could not be more timely. It is just the book the world needs right now.” —Elizabeth Kolbert on Atmosphere of Hope

“An authoritative, scientifically accurate book on global warming that sparkles with life, clarity, and intelligence…The secret…seems to be confident knowledge joined to a storyteller’s gifts and a writer’s determination to get it just right–a rare combination, and a powerful one.” –The Washington Post on The Weather Makers

“Flannery…is without question an extraordinary scientist… A passionate explication of human influence on climate change and a call to action… Spellbinding… A tour de force.” –Bill Chameides, Science Magazine, on The Weather Makers

“Tim Flannery’s book will forever change your perspective on the North American continent…Flannery guides us on a sweeping odyssey through time, in which he synthesizes vast amounts of information from geology, paleontology, and human history… A penetrating, introspective account of the role we humans are playing on the evolutionary stage… Exhilarating.” –The New York Review of Books, on The Eternal Frontier

“[Flannery] has a particular talent for assembling and presenting the strands of his engaging narrative. He effectively weaves together descriptions of moving continents, shifting climates, and changing flora and fauna.” –Science, on The Eternal Frontier