Description

‘Your world will be larger for reading this book’ CHLOE DALTON author of Raising Hare
‘The most persistent feeling, and one that Martins conveys beautifully, is one of awe at the sheer diversity and inventiveness of the living world’ GUARDIAN

Welcome to the hidden, squirming world of parasites – some of the most misunderstood, and most important, creatures with whom we share the Earth. And our bodies.

There is the tapeworm, which can grow one hundred and twenty feet within the gut of a whale. The tsetse fly, a notorious vector of disease whose needle-like mouth can pierce even crocodile skin. And the most universal symbol of parasitic behaviour: the much-mythologised leech. Long villainised, yet vital to every ecosystem on Earth, these parasitic creatures have driven evolution, shaped civilisations, and altered the course of human history. And we have almost entirely ignored them.

Dr Dino Martins is an award-winning entomologist and biologist from Kenya’s Turkana Basin – where life on Earth began – and he has made it his life’s mission to demystify these beguiling beings. Hidden Creatures takes us on a journey around the world ten times over – from the wilds of East Africa to the rainforests of the Amazon, from Borneo to the public parks of London. Along the way, we encounter brilliant and eccentric experts and students who join Martins on his adventures to investigate not just parasites but their astonishing cast of hosts: elephants and rhinos, hyraxes and hippos, and, of course, the elusive human.

Immersive, entertaining and driven by an utterly infectious curiosity, Hidden Creatures has the magnetic force of a David Attenborough documentary and introduces a monumental, charismatic new voice in science writing. It will transform your understanding of the natural world.

Publisher Review

‘A rousing hymn by a scientist who has spent his life marvelling at the apparently unlovely … Martins’ enthusiasm for parasites and insects is, well, contagious’ Financial Times ‘Dino Martins’ book is a fascinating compendium of all the critters, some big, some small, some harmless and some lethal, that lie in wait for unsuspecting warm-blooded creatures … in the end, perhaps the most persistent feeling, and one that Martins conveys beautifully, is one of awe at the sheer diversity and inventiveness of the living world’ Guardian ‘An astonishing, eye-opening and inspiring guide to the world’s microscopic marvels […] Wonderfully revolting and utterly fascinating, it is a thrilling tribute to the interconnectedness of life, full of awe-inspiring detail and gripping facts. It will make you want to rush out and look at puddles through a magnifying glass. Your world will be larger for reading this book’ Chloe Dalton, author of Raising Hare ‘Dino Martin’s genius is to make you care about the world’s most despised and disgusting creatures-and find them fascinating, vital, and even beautiful. A mind-blowing, eye-watering revelation of a book’ Isabella Tree, author of Wilding ‘If you’ve ever been bitten by a mosquito, plucked a flea from your dog, dealt with kid with nits or suffered an unwelcome bout of intestinal visitors, you’ll find yourself compelled by how these encounters unfold and the ways in which these tiny organisms shape entire ecosystems. Hidden Creatures is nature storytelling at its most compulsive-revealing the hidden dramas playing out in backyards, bodies, bloodstreams and beyond’ Aminatta Forna, author of The Devil That Danced on the Water ‘A master storyteller escorts us into the theatre of nature’s ultimate squatters. Diabolically ingenious, gloriously grotesque, and utterly mesmerising’ Keggie Carew, author of Beastly