If anything, it was too short! I would have loved to have read more about David’s formative years and heard more anecdotes of his time spent in the wilds. We are so lucky to live beside this wise, wise man and I will certainly heed his advice on how best to protect our precious planet moving forwards.

David Attenborough needs no introduction having been the face of our wild world on television for over fifty years.

In this book he takes us back to the beginning, skipping rapidly through his past, with reminders of things we know he did, because it was on television, then or later, like his searching for fossils in his local wood, which came out much later. Being reminded of his encounter with the gorillas who came and searched his hair and the baby trying to play with his boots, was just one iconic moment from hundreds of hours of wildlife footage we are familiar with.

But Sir David recounts this in decades, and each starts with a doom-laden set of statistics: wilderness reduction, species reduction, human population growth and the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Each of them is the dreaded hockey stick graph, flat for centuries, then a sharp tick upward as we reach the industrial age, and an accelerating rise that has reached epic proportions since the 1960s. I felt sick as he recounted the examples of how we are destroying, have destroyed, our planet.

Then follows the voice of doom.

What will life be like if we carry on this way? To say it is not worth living is an understatement. And we are not talking about some distant future.  We are talking about 2050.  And I remember in the 1990s when forecasts for climate abnormalities, storms, habitat loss, and epidemics for the 2020s sounded bad. It's all here, now.

It all got very depressing.

Part three showed it doesn't have to be that way. And it isn't that difficult to do. Few of these ideas were new to me, but the scale of application required is scary. Yet many of them are already being done on a countrywide scale in enlightened parts of the world. Some countries are committed to rewilding, to a circular economy, to actual net zero emissions (not parking them on someone else).There is a way out of this mess.

We just need to step up and do it.

And the last quarter of the book is all the reference material you need to support the science, the facts, actions, the data and the scenarios he has put in front of us.

It is up to us

So in his easy-going, magnificent way of making the complex sound simple, Sir David has presented us with a stern warning and the ways we can solve our problem.  It is up to us to do it.

And after reading Humankind in the summer, I know that the doom-laden news is part of what's holding us back.

Sir David Attenborough has brought together and presented all the reasons and tools we need to change the course of our history, to get back to living on the only planet we have.

Essential reading for us all.

This was a very fascinating book. What a life this man has had. I highly recommend this book to any Attenborough fan

David Attenborough is an absolute inspiration. I found it quite difficult to read but it is so so imporant and I will be buying it for people for Christmas.

David Attenborough’s statement is a clever, wise and heart-breaking assessment of the state of our home, the Earth. Subdivided in three parts – roughly speaking: the past, the present, a possible future – it holds up a mirror to what humanity has done to its home, the negative impacts of humans’ striving for wealth and comfort and the cost of that quest to ourselves, our children and nature. All of this is underlined by vivid and understandable examples, such as Chernobyl, which is used as a point of reference to judge the scale of the current catastrophe.

Attenborough’s account is well-written, well-explained, evidence-based and extremely reader-friendly. Even if you have no real understanding of the chemical, biological and social processes that inform the current state of our planet, Attenborough makes sure that you are absolutely able to grasp the links between the different pieces that are responsible for climate change and other factors that cause the deterioration of our natural environment. He also makes it abundantly clear, that we are all in the same boat and that only we can change this development. In fact, his call to action and the perspectives and examples he provides of measures and projects that are already taking place are another asset of this book, as, although it deals with a bleak and disturbing subject, it still does not leave you utterly hopeless. At the moment there may only be a silver lining, but if Attenborough’s statement manages to be read by a wide audience, governments and policies will change even more profoundly. It is to be hoped that the world leaders will hear him.

I absolutely recommend this book to everyone. It is important and wise, it celebrates our planet, it stresses the need for biodiversity and political and economic change – and it tells you that it is not too late.

Halfway through reading this ultra-important book it feels like you're hearing the final death-knell of our species – for multiple reasons most of us will have moved, starved, been flooded out or over-heated in the next seventy years, were we to stay around that long. Thankfully the second half is much more of an optimistic call to arms in honour of sustainability and living here as a guardian of the world, not its self-appointed lord, master and raper. I would say it's an essential purchase, but hey – consumerism, and all that. Certainly it's a must-read, from a man our world is only ever richer for having as one of its number.

If there is anyone alive that it should be said "he is a legend in his own lifetime" then David Attenborough is that man. Add to that the unique positions he has been in to chronicle the changes that our planet have suffered and that gives him an amazing view of reality.

One of the things that really struck home for me was his chronicle of changes to our world immediately listed below the chapter number. To quote but one shocker, since he was born in 1937, the population has risen from 2.3 billion to 7.8 billion and no real sign of that growth flattening off very much. I could continue to quote statistics but that would not transmit the depth of his feelings and concern for our planet.

Please just buy this book and discover for yourself what a disgusting mess we are all making of our children's future.

MY APOLOGIES. I THOUGH THIS WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE PURCHASE THE BOOK. THIS IS NOT A BOOK I WOULD WANT ON KINDLE AS I WOULD WANT TO OWN THE HARDBACK BOOK - FOREVER. I'M GIVING IT A FIVE STAR BECAUSE I KNOW IT WILL BE GOOD AND IT WILL BE THE FIRST BOOK (OTHER THAN COOKERY BOOKS) THAT I HAVE BOUGHT IN OVER TEN YEARS. SAYS IT ALL, DOESN'T IT?

A sensible account of how we have mistreated the planet over his lifetime. Things need to change and he provides an interesting and factual account of his experiences, giving advice about what we need to do. A great read.

"No habitat, no matter how big, is secure." This quote from the naturalist most qualified to educate us on the plight of the planet sums up how precarious the situation is. Action is needed urgently, whether it is by the individual , by a corporation or those in power. This book is a must for everyone wherever their life on earth is - not to mention it is a book where you want to turn the page to read more, alarming and saddening as it sometimes is. Share it, follow its suggestions - we all need to do something now.

I received the Arc Copy of the book from Netgally in exchange for an honest review.

Having watch the documentary and feeling shocked and sad about the climate crisis I had to pick the book in the hope that the message will sink in.
This book doesn’t disappoint, i read it with his lovely voice in mind at all times which made the whole experience a lot better.
A most read for everyone. Everybody will benefit from reading this book is interesting and the Author has a way to make any subject a lot more “digestible” even when the amount of data, statistics and subject are overwhelming we need to act to make this planet habitable for humans for generations to come.

First I have to confess that I was skeptical about the future of our planet, and felt that we were going through one of the many changes that have preceded man on earth.
I'm old enough to have seen David Attenborough's early work on television and have always admired his clear and reasoned description on the subject being discussed, so thought I'd read his account of the future of the planet.
This relatively short book first lays out the huge changes our planet has gone through over time, much of the worst I have witnessed. Attenborough's descriptions brings these changes into sharp focus.
Unlike so many, he doesn't go for hysterical theatrics, but using objective statistics and fascinating anecdotes, he shows us what is happening and discusses the myriad ways in which damage has been wrought by mankind.
Much of that was, to me, pretty obvious. But where this book has changed my attitude is the inspiring solutions he offers that can be implemented to help the environment right now, and more importantly its urgency.
The book's text should be on the syllabus for every young person's education. Highly recommended.

This book is an eye opener. The effect we have had on the planet and the future is terrifying. This book should be read by all. Definitely makes you realise the devastation humans cause.

This is a book that everyone needs to read. It is without a doubt the most inspiring and influential book to come out about climate change. Attenborough has dedicated his entire life as a scientist advocating for action to stop climate change and protect our environments.

Not all hope is lost, but you need to pick up this book now. Take notice of the facts and hold yourself to account. It's not too late but we all need to pull together.

This book isn't a lighthearted 'fun fact' read, there are hard cold, and disheartening facts. But in true Attenborough style, there is a little hope mixed in there too.

Most of the world will have read this book with the author's own familiar voice narrating, as in one of the many documentaries we have been blessed with over the years. This witness statement is far more personal, using Sir David's own long life as the timeline for the world's decline. Impossible to think that we have done so much harm in less than a hundred years but the man himself is only 94 so knows quite a bit about the subject.

The warnings in this book and associated television special have rung out across social media and news websites the way that they always do. And true to form, after all the warnings and statistics have been laid at our feet in his book we are still given the same ray of hope that David Attenborough has assured us with for years: All is not lost, if we listen to one another, if we learn from our mistakes and if we cooperate globally for a better future. I just wish he would see it happen in this life.

There is a reason why Sir David Attenborough is a national treasure, he has charmed, educated and inspired generations about the wonders that we share the planet with. Over the years, he’s visited every area of the globe at various stages of his career and has seen how humanity has ravaged the environment and decimated species that depend on it. And so, when he impacts wisdom, we listen. It’s hard to see the words of his witness statement without feeling sadness & anger, but we must read them as we need to fully understand how we need to change in our lives and what we can do about it. Organisations & governments will only really make the right changes if we, the public, force change. If we band together, we can be an incredible force for good. We must not let the Earth down, future generations need us to make the right decisions now.

This book isn’t a light read as you are reading about alarming subject but you do so with Attenborough’s comforting voice in your mind as you do. He may share startling anecdotes & statistics, but he also gives us hope though his sincere passion.

This is an important book that I hope many people read.

A great insight of what could be, by an undoubtedly caring, and compassionate mind, David melody seeps though into the writing as he lures you into an uncomfortable daydream into futures we could have and aspire to.

An absolutely wonderful book that is also getting an really important message across in a way that is kind rather than bombastic.
Mixing statistics, memories and facts together into small essays is a genius move and this becomes a book for the entire family to read and talk about together. It doesn't talk down to an audience but it is also not too high level.
Attenborough's passion really shines through.

I have read quite a number of books about both the causes of climate change and the potential solutions and what strikes me, and gives me hope, about this new book from David Attenborough is that he makes both of these topics easy to access and relate to. He does not ‘dumb down’ the subject but he tells a story which we have all seen unfolding.

In the course of his own, relatively long and fruitful life, the world has changed substantially. That is seen both through the simplicity of the headline statistics that introduce each chapter and through the library of programmes that the author has produced to connect us to the living world around us. Through his work, that brings our environment and our fellow species on Earth, right into our domestic living rooms he has a special, perhaps unique, place from which to teach and inform. Hopefully, that will give this hugely important book the platform from which to inspire and change us.

It is important because this is not just a lecture on where it all went wrong, it is a vision for how we can turn it around and rebalance our place on the planet. To make that happen will take a political will that it feels currently does not exist amongst the populist governments of vested interests, so it will require a mass movement of the people to bring it about. Our moment is now and it is essential that we respond. Though the changes we need to make may at first appear hugely sacrificial from an individual perspective, they open the opportunity for so much better for us all collectively and we need to discover and cherish that collective journey now.

Brilliant, thought provoking and utterly riveting. Who is going to disagree with tis iconic expert? Just read it
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