Extraordinary Insects

Weird. Wonderful. Indispensable. The ones who run our world.

By: Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Lucy Moffatt - translator

Narrated by: Kristin Milward

Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

The Sunday Times best seller.

A Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year 2019.

A journey into the weird, wonderful and truly astonishing lives of the small but mighty creatures who keep the world turning.

Out of sight, underfoot, unseen beyond fleeting scuttles or darting flights, insects occupy a hidden world, yet are essential to sustaining life on earth.

Insects influence our ecosystem like a ripple effect on water. They arrived when life first moved to dry land, they preceded – and survived – the dinosaurs, they outnumber the grains of sand on all the world’s beaches, and they will be here long after us.

Working quietly but tirelessly, they give us food, uphold our ecosystems, can heal our wounds and even digest plastic. They could also provide us with new solutions to the antibiotics crisis, assist in disaster zones and inspire airforce engineers with their flying techniques.

But their private lives are also full of fun, intrigue and wonder – musical mating rituals; house-hunting for armies of beetle babies; metamorphosing into new characters; throwing parties in fermenting sap; cultivating fungi for food; farming smaller species for honey dew and always ensuring that what is dead is decomposed, ready to become life once again.

Here, we will discover life and death, drama and dreams, all on a millimetric scale. Like it or not, Earth is the planet of insects, and this is their extraordinary story.

©2019 Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Extraordinary Insects is a joy." (The Times)

"Erudite, enlightening and entertaining...a timely reminder of the fragility of our ecosystem and the vital role that insects play in the future of the planet and humanity’s existence." (Countryman)

"Extraordinary Insects is packed with wondrous information. There are more than 200 million insects on Earth for every human being and anyone wanting to learn more about them will find this book fascinating’ (Daily Express)

Incredible journey through the insect world!

This is hands down one of the most fascinating books on natural history and popular science I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

The author weaves together a myriad of fascinating stories from the insect world and how they've impacted the world we live in from soil composition, fashion to antibiotics and space travel.

An exceptional piece of science communication the author communicates the science in a clear, easy understandable conversational manner.

I was captivated throughout and would highly recommend this book to anyone!

The perfect book about insects.

I have taken insects for granted. After listening to this book, I will never do that again. It tells you how insects work, their biology and how they relate to us. Our life and history are intertwined with these little bugs. Loved every single chapter. Great narration and writing.

Fascinating stories, writing didn't hit the mark

This book is a treasure trove of interesting facts on a wide array of insects (and a few other arthropods). I thoroughly enjoyed learning about quirky relationships between insects and other organisms like that between sloths and the moths evolved to live in their fur. There really was something new and fascinating to learn in every chapter.

That said, both the writing and narration had me on the verge of giving up multiple times. The writing style felt like it might be aimed at a teen or even preteen audience at times. The narrator had an intoxicated rather than intoxicating quality to her voice. At times I felt like a slightly tipsy aunt was reading me a strange bedtime story about fascinating little creatures she found in her garden. I can see how some may find this combination appealing and even particularly charming. It might even be the perfect book to listen to with your older children to get them excited about our amazing little companions in this world (if you don't mind the inevitable bits about bugs getting busy). But I for one found it a bit strange given the subject matter-of course, that might be the grumpy old man in me.