Description

Shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies award for nature writing.

In Lost Wonders Tom Lathan tells ten powerful stories of species that have lived, died out and been declared extinct since the turn of the twenty-first century.

‘Timely, elegiac’ – The Daily Mail
‘Superb storytelling . . . an exhilarating and vital book’ – Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild

Lost Wonders is a series of fascinating encounters with subjects that are now nowhere to be found on Earth. From giant tortoises to minuscule snails the size of sesame seeds, from ocean-hopping trees to fish that wag their tails like puppies, Tom Lathan brings these lost wonders briefly back to life and gives us a tantalizing glimpse of what we have lost within our own lifetime.

Drawing on the personal recollections of the people who studied these species, as well as those who tried but ultimately failed to save them, and with beautiful illustrations, Lost Wonders is an intimate portrait of the species that have only recently vanished from our world. It is also an urgent warning to hold on all the more tightly to those now slipping from our grasp.

Illustrated by Claire Kohda

Publisher Review

Timely, elegiac * The Daily Mail * Lathan’s superb storytelling makes ecological crisis personal, local and often scarily visible. He doesn’t let the tragedy hide, as it usually does, behind graphs and abstractions. Yet there’s hope here too, in spades. This is an exhilarating and vital book. — Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild Not just a timely epitaph . . . but a celebration of their existence, reminding us of their wonder. — Stephen Moss, author of Ten Birds That Changed the World A beautifully crafted elegy for the lost species of our age. In repopulating the world with extinct snails, lizards, bats and rats, Tom Lathan makes us marvel and care almost as much as the conservationists who tried and failed to save them. — Kate Teltscher, author of Palace of Palms These are important stories and Lathan tells them with pathos and sensitivity. — Ross Barnett, author of The Missing Lynx