A Warning from the Golden Toad

In twenty short books, Penguin brings you the classics of the environmental movement. 
 
Taking us on an extraordinary journey into the past and around the globe, from coral reefs to the North Pole, deserts to rainforests, Tim Flannery's A Warning from the Golden Toad tells the story of the earth's climate, and how we have changed it. 
 
Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As life on Earth has become irrevocably altered by humans, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend the planet, and affirm our place at the heart of its restoration. Their words have endured through the decades, becoming the classics of a movement. Together, these books show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.

Tim Flannery (b. 1956) is one of Australia's leading writers on climate change. An internationally acclaimed scientist, palaeontologist and conservationist, Flannery has discovered more than 30 mammal species during the span of his career.

Taking us on an extraordinary journey into the past and around the globe, from coral reefs to the North Pole, deserts to rainforests, Tim Flannery tells the story of the earth's climate, and how we have changed it.

The First 100 Million Years

Europe

'Vivid, thrilling, a delight ... Tim Flannery is a palaeontologist and ecologist of global standing, and this is a compelling and authoritative narrative of the evolution of Europe's flora and fauna, from the formation of the continent to its near future ... an exciting book, full of wonder' James McConnachie, Sunday Times 
 
A place of exceptional diversity, rapid change, and high energy, Europe has literally been at the crossroads of the world ever since the interaction of Asia, North America and Africa formed the tropical island archipelago that would become the continent of today. 
 
In this unprecedented evolutionary history, Tim Flannery shows how for the past 100 million years Europe has absorbed wave after wave of immigrant species; taking them in, transforming them, and sometimes hybridising them. Flannery reveals how, in addition to playing a vital role in the evolution of our own species, Europe was once the site of the formation of the first coral reefs, the home of some of the world's largest elephants, and now has more wolves than North America. 
 
This groundbreaking book charts the history of the land itself and the forces shaping life on it - including modern humans - to create a portrait of a continent that continues to exert a huge influence on the world today.

Vivid . . . a compelling and authoritative narrative of the evolution of Europe's flora and fauna . . . an exciting book, full of wonder, affection and hope

A rich, illuminating journey... Tim Flannery's natural history takes us from the dinosaur's demise 66 million years ago to today

Unfolds the dazzling array of climates and ecosystems that have emerged in Europe, along with the resultant species that have evolved in and disseminated across it . . . Flannery takes great pleasure in opening up this world of surprises, describing it with verve and wit

Flannery weaves geology and biology into the history of developing societies and the emergence of conflict, both personal and military

Bold and brilliant evocation of Europes forever vanished yet paradoxically present as engrams beneath our streets, in every landscape feature

Thrillingly captured . . . a bold and rich panorama of Europe's ecological history . . . Flannery's superb study shows that Europe is a land of "exceptional dynamism" and resilience

A place of exceptional diversity, rapid change, and high energy, for the past 100 million years Europe has literally been at the crossroads of the world: ever since the interaction of Asia, North America and Africa formed the tropical island archipelago that would become the continent of today. 
 
In this unprecedented evolutionary history, Tim Flannery shows how Europe has absorbed wave after wave of immigrant species ever since; taking them in, transforming them, and sometimes hybridising them. Flannery reveals how, in addition to playing a vital role in the evolution of our own species, Europe was once the site of the formation of the first coral reefs, the home of some of the world's largest elephants, and now has more wolves than North America.

Solutions to the Climate Crisis

Atmosphere of Hope

A timely intervention on climate change from the author of the hugely influential The Weather Makers. 
 
The tools required to avoid a climate disaster already exist. Between emissions cuts and emerging technologies, we can do it. Here Professor Tim Flannery introduces us to the innovative new solutions being developed around the world, which work with the Earth's systems to combat climate change - and could safeguard our future. 
 
'An important voice in the debate on global warming' Josh Glancy, Sunday Times 
 
'Balances the difficult business of raising alarm about the dangers ahead with proposals for the types of action we need to take now to head off catastrophe tomorrow' Robin McKie, Guardian 
 
'If you're not already addicted to Tim Flannery's writing, discover him now' Jared Diamond 
 
'Thoughtful, candid and - yes - ultimately upbeat, Atmosphere of Hope could not be more timely. It is just the book the world needs right now' Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction

Thoughtful, candid and - yes - ultimately upbeat, Atmosphere of Hope could not be more timely. It is just the book the world needs right now.

Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction

Think Indiana Jones crossed with Charles Darwin

A wonderful writer, an original scientist, and a gifted populariser

If you're not already addicted to Tim Flannery's writing, discover him now

An Adventure

Throwim Way Leg

Throwim Way Leg is a book of wonder and excitement, struggle and sadness, a love letter to Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. 'In New Guinea Pidgin,' Tim Flannery explains, 'throwim way leg means to go on a journey. It describes the action of thrusting out your leg to take the first step of what can be a long march...' Here he invites us to share in his breathtaking adventures, as he meets skilled hunters and befriends a shaman, climbs mountains never before scaled by Europeans, discovers new species and, deep in the jungle, stumbles across the giant bones of extinct marsupials. He also writes movingly about the fate of indigenous people when their intricate cultures collide with mining companies and the high-tech modern world. 
 
'This book combines an irresistible author with an irresistible subject: Tim Flannery, a great zoologist and writer about science, relating his explorations of New Guinea, a vivid tropical universe' Jared Diamond 
 
'An enthralling introduction to the mountain people of New Guinea - unimaginably remote, charming, cunning, cruel, subtle and appealing - and to their magnificent land' New York Times Book Review 
 
Tim Flannery is an internationally acclaimed writer, scientist and explorer. As a field zoologist he has discovered and named more than thirty new species of mammals, including two tree-kangaroos. His books include Country and the award-winning international bestsellers The Future Eaters, The Eternal Frontier and The Weather Makers. He has also edited and introduced many historical works, including The Birth of Sydney, The Diaries of William Buckley and The Explorers.

This book combines an irresistible author with an irresistible subject: Tim Flannery, a great zoologist and writer about science, relating his explorations of New Guinea, a vivid tropical universe

An enthralling introduction to the mountain people of New Guinea - unimaginably remote, charming, cunning, cruel, subtle and appealing - and to their magnificent land

Australia has found its own Stephen Jay Gould

Throwim Way Leg is a book of wonder and excitement, struggle and sadness, a love letter to Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. 'In New Guinea Pidgin,' Tim Flannery explains, 'throwim way leg means to go on a journey. It describes the action of thrusting out your leg to take the first step of what can be a long march...' Here he invites us to share in his breathtaking adventures, as he meets skilled hunters and befriends a shaman, climbs mountains never before scaled by Europeans, discovers new species and, deep in the jungle, stumbles across the giant bones of extinct marsupials. He also writes movingly about the fate of indigenous people when their intricate cultures collide with mining companies and the high-tech modern world.

A Twin Biography of the Planet and the Human Race

Here on Earth

A defiantly optimistic book ... beautifully written

Flannery is a wonderful writer, an original scientist, and a gifted populariser

A triumph ... a well-written, persuasive and at times alarming venture into past, present and future ... deserves to be widely read

Tim Flannery is an internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist, described by Sir David Attenborough as being 'in the league of the all-time great explorers like Dr David Livingstone'. His books include The Future Eaters, The Eternal Frontier, Throwim Way Leg, A Gap in Nature, Country and The Weather Makers ('one of the most influential books of the twentieth century' Guardian)

What is our place on Earth? Are humans destined to become a footnote in history, or will we become stronger and wiser, and conquer our environmental problems? 
 
In this extraordinary story of our planet and our place upon it, Here on Earth discovers the remarkable source of all life and how it has developed into the wonder around us today. From ant-colonies to zinc mining, Tim Flannery takes us on a journey around the world and from the top of the food-chain to the very chemicals of which we are made, and explores how the fate of humanity is in our own hands.

A New Beginning

Tim Flannery is an internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist, described by Sir David Attenborough as being 'in the league of the all-time great explorers like Dr David Livingstone'. His books include The Future Eaters, The Eternal Frontier, Throwim Way Leg, A Gap in Nature, Country and The Weather Makers ('one of the most influential books of the 20th century' Guardian).

Everyone's invited 
 
Tim Flannery is here to offer us a change of perspective. And he is here to inspire us. He invites us to consider again our place on earth, what it really means to be alive. 
 
Here on Earth is a revolutionary dual biography of the planet and of our species. Flannery reimagines the history of earth, from its earliest origins as a chaotic ball of elemental gases to the teeming landscape we currently call home. It is a remarkable story. How did life first emerge here? What forces have shaped it? Why did humans come to dominate? And when did we start to have an impact? More importantly, how has this changed us as a species? 
 
The awesome hand of nature has never been better portrayed than in this book. Nor, remarkably, the transformative power of ideas. From the most intense competition for survival, cooperation has emerged. The challenge we now face is to sustain our fragile hold on life. 
 
Our fate is in our own hands. But first we have to realise who we are.

Greta Thunberg

Naomi Klein

Timothy Morton

George Monbiot

Bill McKibben

Amitav Ghosh

Tim Flannery

Terry Tempest Williams

Michael Pollan

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Dai Qing

Wangari Maathai

Jared Diamond

Wendell Berry

Edward O. Wilson

James Lovelock

Masanobu Fukuoka

Arne Næss

Rachel Carson

Aldo Leopold

Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As humans have driven the living planet to the brink of collapse, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend it. Their words have endured, becoming the classics that define the environmental movement today. 
 
From art, literature, food and gardening, to technology, economics, politics and ethics, each of these short books deepens our sense of our place in nature; each is a seed from which a bold activism can grow. Together, they show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.

Tim Flannery

Books by Tim Flannery

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter