Tamed

Ten Species That Changed Our World

By: Alice Roberts

Narrated by: Alice Roberts

Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Tamed, written and read by Alice Roberts.

The extraordinary story of the species that became our allies.

For hundreds of thousands of years, our ancestors depended on wild plants and animals for survival. They were hunter-gatherers, consummate foraging experts, taking the world as they found it. Then a revolution occurred - our ancestors' interaction with other species changed. They began to tame them. The human population boomed; civilisation began.

In Tamed, Alice Roberts uncovers the deep history of 10 familiar species with incredible wild pasts: dogs, apples and wheat; cattle, potatoes and chickens; rice, maize and horses - and, finally, humans.

She reveals how becoming part of our world changed these animals and plants, and shows how they became our allies, essential to the survival and success of our own species.

Enlightening, wide-ranging and endlessly fascinating, Tamed encompasses thousands of years of history and archaeology alongside cutting-edge genetics and anthropology. Yet it is also a deeply personal journey that changes how we see ourselves and the species on which we have left our mark.

An Economist and Mail on Sunday Book of the Year 2017.

©2018 Alice Roberts (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A masterpiece of evocative scientific storytelling." (Brian Cox)

"The best popular book on broad-sweep history since Guns, Germs and Steel." (Peter Forbes)

Learned a lot, yet disappointed in the end

Ms Robert does a fascinating job putting together info from various disciplines to tell a story of origins and development. While using ,say, dogs , she illustrates many new and old science techniques to weave a story that is both interesting and instructive. She is a Science Communicator, and she does that well.
The down-side/ interesting aspect is her (to American ears) very British accent which sometimes distracts or confuses. She was talking about "tubers" but it sounded exactly like "cheevers"
The major flaw was in her otherwise nice melding of science and storytelling was in the end segments where she lets her own "gut" keep from delving into the science and actual experience of GMOs. Similarly, she makes a grand case for environmental stewardship yet voices hope for "the organic movement" despite pointing out one paragraph before that organic farming is less efficient (true) and that nearly all farmable land is already under cultivation (also true).

Impressive

Dr. Alice Roberts is one of the best communicators
of science, history, and anatomy in our times… Well done!

Please leave out the sermons.

An otherwise great book is sullied by the author's prejudice. She gets very preachy about GMOs and is obviously biased against any research done by a private firm. Her own bias illustrates that academics are hardly without self-interest. The last hour of the recording is not worth the time. Also, her British pronunciations of many of the words is very distracting.

informative description of domestication

this book takes advantage of very recent genetic evidence outlining the domestication of 10 different species. the genetics were presented largely as conclusions. but did identify the still present uncertainties and controversies, i.e. it does not present the actual arguments but more of a 30000 ft overview. it was well worth the time, I did not fast forward through any part. the chapter on horse domestication was among the most interesting.