A fascinating tribute to the life of the land ... Berry's writings are timelier than ever

The poet laureate of America's farmland

Maybe you don't care much about farming, but these essays, which move from food culture to feminism to literacy to global economics, confront the idea that the rotten ways we treat one another are rooted in the rotten ways we treat the land. [...] Berry draws endlessly and non-repetitively on the deep well of the lived truth of farm life, which delivers up sweet, clear lines of poetry and local lore and a kind of immediate authenticity. [...] I believe in the project laid out in The World-Ending Fire, the project of finding our humanity in humility, in living as described in the essay "The Agrarian Standard" as "local adaptation, which requires bringing local nature, local people, local economy, and local culture into a practical and enduring harmony." This is something you can do, something that no government, corporation, church, or law enforcement body can stop you from doing, an action in which you can find some measure of empowerment and freedom for you and your neighbors. It's as easy as planting a tree.

With a precise pen, Berry clears any thicket of cosy consensus with a clear eye and cutting hand

Every page is full of wit, surprise and delight

Superb: fascinating, intimate biographies of the species that have shared our white-knuckle ride to the present and have helped to make us what we are. Read if you want to know what and why you are.’

The sort of deep-dive history that will appeal to fans of Jared Diamond and Yuval Noah Harari.

There are plenty of facts in Tamed that make the familiar well worth exploring afresh. But it's the fascinating stories that explain how these were unearthed that make this book such a joy to read.

An engrossing and highly readable account of where man is now and how we have reached this point

This book is an utter delight…. I loved the stories, the information. But what I loved most was the message of the book: how to preserve what we have before we lose it forever. Humans have a massive impact on the plant, both locally and globally

The eclectic stories come thick and fast, with an equally varied human cast dedicated to uncovering the truth, scientifically or otherwise. Cooke illuminates and mickey-takes in equal measure, and the truth as she tells it is not only unexpected but often bizarre, bawdy and very, very funny.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: Highly amusing and enlightening new book [from] brilliant zoologist Lucy Cooke.

The rising star of natural history ... is she the new David Attenborough?

Fantastic. The new Origin of Species. A proper page turner.

This 21st century bestiary is as surprising as it is diverse. Consummate natural history writing: illuminating, remarkable - and very, very funny.

Fascinating facts combined with hilarious ridiculousness.

Beautifully written, funny and jam-packed with astonishing information.

A compendium of intriguing and revelatory animal information - you may find dolphins go down in your estimation, while hyenas go up ...

An eye opening , informative and hysterical history of our ideas about animals - very funny !

Clever, thoughtful, accessible and, above all, so SO funny.

Endlessly fascinating.

Lucy Cooke’s modern bestiary is as well-informed as you’d expect from an Oxford zoologist. It’s also downright funny ...

Brilliantly researched and hilariously informative