This book takes us through the natural history of previous forms of life in the most beguiling way. It makes you think about the past differently and it certainly makes you think about the future differently. This is a monumental work and I suspect it will be a very important book for future generations

Ray Mears, Chair of the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing

The word "original" is really overworked. But Thomas Halliday has produced a book the like of which I have never come across

Jeremy Paxman

An extraordinary history of our almost-alien Earth... Epically cinematic... The writing is so palpably alive. A book of almost unimaginable riches. It is a book that will make its own solid and lasting contribution. It could well be the best I read in 2022 - and I know it's only January

James McConnachie, Sunday Times

A poet among palaeontologists

David P. Barash, Wall Street Journal