Animals come close to being Durrell's best friends. He writes about them with style, verve and humour

An amusing writer who transforms this Argentine backcountry into a particularly inviting place

A splendid success

A delight, with never a dull moment from Buenos Aires to Patagonia, thanks to Durrell's extraordinary ability to communicate his exuberant pleasure in his chosen work

Ocean of Life is an excellent and engrossing work. Mr. Roberts, a British professor of marine conservation, has corralled an astonishing collection of scientific discovery ... I hope a great many people-particularly those in that undecided middle-read this book

Callum Roberts has done it again. From showing us the past with the wisdom of a Dickens character in his earlier book, he now leads us toward the future in The Ocean of Life. It's a book so fine, I wish I'd written it!

An engrossing survey of the relationship between man and the sea for readers living through the greatest environmental changes in 65 million years ... Roberts's meditation will have readers gasping aloud with wonder, even as the sobering truth of humans' profound interdependence with the sea provokes concern

An impressive history of the oceans ... one of this book's strengths is the many solutions Roberts outlines to reverse the dismal state of the seas

There is a dearth of good and comprehensive books on a subject that can seem too complicated and depressing for any single tome. Callum Roberts has now provided one ... there is no quibbling with the evidence of marine horrors that Mr Roberts presents

It's probably a bit too soon to start talking about candidates for books of the year. But Callum Roberts' latest offering should already be considered a strong contender. Roberts is that precious pearl: a practising scientist who not only knows his field inside out, but also understands how to write compelling, persuasive non-fiction

Some dream of going to Africa. This book will make you dream of an Africa that was, and a life that cannot be repeated. Alan Root lived (and several times died, it seems) a life that most people can scarcely fantasize. Yet he has the scars and medals to prove it, and he shared with the world the fruits of his adventures in his films. Now, read what’s behind those films

His honesty and integrity are legendary and this shines through in his book... Nothing, nothing was too small or unimportant to escape his attention. They all had their place in the wonderful balance of nature... He didn't just make wildlife films grow up. He made the best there ever was and will ever be and told his stories with a humour and innuendo and so poignantly that it brought the other living creatures that we live with on our planet level with us, and gave them a status and dignity that they'd never had before...a must for, well, everyone

Alan, almost single-handedly in my opinion, made wildlife films grow up

Enthralling, the best true-life adventure story to come out of Africa for years

A truly compelling book, savage and sparkling by turns

Alan Root’s overflowing life as a dedicated, adventurous film-maker and naturalist is almost the story of wild East Africa itself in those glorious and tragic years surrounding the advent of political independence…a fresh, honest, often moving (and humorous) account, a terrific contribution to the literature

Required reading for anyone who wants to experience the joys and sorrows of conservation in today's Africa

Root’s enthralling memoir…is the best true-life adventure story to come out of Africa for years

His is a funny, harrowing, beautifully written love letter to Africa

In this captivating memoir [Root] documents his brushes in the bush and his passion for wildlife

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Root has written the most extraordinary love letter to Africa – packed with drama and knowledge, tragedy and hope... A completely gripping and important study of this complex and disappearing natural environment

His is an extraordinary story laced with tragedy

[Root's] life story, vividly related here, is crammed with incident and adventure. Curious, creative and fearless, he has diced with death on numerous occasions and been mauled several times in his efforts to capture the daily lives of everything from silver-back gorillas to leopards in the wild on film. A gripping account of a life well lived