For most of us, tropical forests are things we watch or read about from the comfort of our living rooms. Almost unanimously, these ‘jungle’ landscapes are painted as pristine and primordial prior to 21st century capitalist greed. As such, it is easy for us to imagine tropical forests as fascinating backdrops to exciting tales of exploration, places to get ‘Lost’ in, or far flung conservation battlefields that are ultimately ‘not our problem’. This book turns these stereotypes on their heads to show that tropical forests have always been intimately connected to the key cast members of Life on Earth, from the first plants, dinosaurs, and earliest mammals to humankind and its diverse societies.

Jungle will take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the cutting-edge scientific discoveries that have recast tropical forests as crucial to the history of our planet and our species. It shows us how these ‘jungles’ have acted as nurseries for our earliest ancestors, shaped Homo sapiens as it evolved and expanded Out of Africa, and housed some of the largest pre-industrial cities in the world. Today our everyday decisions in supermarkets and car showrooms impact tropical forests many miles away that, themselves, have the power to change our precipitation, temperature, and the air that we breathe. Jungle provides a fascinating, first-hand insight into the science that is reinvigorating our appreciation of these environments as dynamic players in all of our pasts, presents, and futures.

This book will let you forge a new, intimate relationship with ‘jungle’ environments you thought you would never visit or care about but that, if you aren’t careful, you might lose forever.

Praise

‘Welcome to the ‘Jungle’ – a breath-taking book showing that tropical forests were key to our evolution, provide fossil fuels for our modern carbon-hungry society and ultimately must be protected and restored if we are to have a future. This insightful and captivating book will ensure you never take our jungles for granted ever again’
Mark Maslin, author of How to Save Our Planet

‘A fascinating story and a crucial revision of the momentous importance of tropical forests to human history. Spanning from our very evolution as a species, to the early stages of globalisation and how we fill our kitchen cupboards today, we all owe far more to jungles than we realise’
Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins

‘An enthralling jungle-journey from the origins of life on this planet to the present day, Jungle provides a brilliant new perspective on our interaction with tropical forests, placing them at the centre of human experience – and it delivers a timely warning about our abuse of the environment’
David Abulafia, author of The Great Sea

‘Finally, a book on rainforests that does justice to their majesty and importance. Patrick Roberts skilfully and lucidly shows why tropical forests matter. He builds the case that people and tropical forests are intimately linked, whether you live in the rainforest or seemingly a world away. Those intricate links are more important than ever today, with ending deforestation playing a key role in solving the twin climate and biodiversity crises we face this century.’
Simon Lewis, author of The Human Planet

‘There are many books on the history of trilobites and dinosaurs and other animals, but so few on the history of plants. Here the dynamic young scientist Patrick Roberts tackles the history of the tropics, from the coal swamps of 300 million years ago, through the co-evolutionary dance of dinosaurs and mammals and flowers, to how our own human history has been shaped by vegetation. As environments are changing rapidly around us today, this is a timely, readable and highly relevant history that celebrates the wonder and importance of jungles’
Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

‘Jungle is a bold, ambitious and truly wonderful history of the world that shows the vital importance of tropical forests to life on Earth’
Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees