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Life on Earth
- Narrated by: David Attenborough
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Categories: Science & Engineering, Science
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Editor reviews
Now, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the book’s first publication, David Attenborough has revisited Life on Earth, completely updating and adding to the original text, taking account of modern scientific discoveries from around the globe. This special anniversary edition provides a fitting tribute to an enduring wildlife classic, destined to enthral the generation who saw it when first published and bring it alive for a whole new generation.
Summary
A new edition of David Attenborough’s groundbreaking Life on Earth.
Winner of Best Non-Fiction Audiobook at the New York Radio Awards 2019.
Shortlisted for Best Audiobook at the Specsavers National Book Awards 2018.
Shortlisted for Futurebook of the Year at the Futurebook Awards 2018.
The nation’s greatest voice, David Attenborough, reads a brand-new edition of Life on Earth, now available as an audiobook for the first time.
David Attenborough’s unforgettable meeting with gorillas became an iconic moment for millions of television viewers. Life on Earth, the series and accompanying book, fundamentally changed the way we view and interact with the natural world, setting a new benchmark of quality, influencing a generation of nature lovers. Told through an examination of animal and plant life, this is an astonishing celebration of the evolution of life on earth, with a cast of characters drawn from the whole range of organisms that have ever lived on this planet. Attenborough’s perceptive, dynamic approach to the evolution of millions of species of living organisms takes the reader on an unforgettable journey of discovery from the very first spark of life to the blue and green wonder we know today.
Now, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the book’s first publication, David Attenborough has revisited Life on Earth, completely updating and adding to the original text, taking account of modern scientific discoveries from around the globe. This special anniversary edition provides a fitting tribute to an enduring wildlife classic, destined to enthral the generation who saw it when first published and bring it alive for a whole new generation.
This audiobook includes wildlife sounds from BAFTA Award winning sound recordist, Chris Watson, who has worked extensively with David Attenborough on his BBC projects. A soundscape appears at the beginning of each chapter to provide a fully immersive experience of the habitat and some of the species described. A full list of the tracks, as they appear in the audiobook, is available below.
- Prologue - Acacia scrubland dawn chorus in the Masai Mara, Kenya, featuring White-browed Robin-chat.
- Chapter One, The Infinite Variety - Tropical rain forest in Panama with the calls of Montezuma oropendola.
- Chapter Two, Building Bodies - Fish and crustaceans recorded underwater on a coral reef off Seligan island, Borneo.
- Chapter Three, The First Forests - Geysir and geothermal activity at Haukadalur hot springs in Iceland. This track also features the Strokkur geysir erupting.
- Chapter Four, The Swarming Hordes - Evening insect chorus in the Conkouati forest reserve, Republic of Congo.
- Chapter Five, The Conquest of The Waters - Ocean currents through sea kelp recorded at a depth of 8m, Moray Firth, Scotland.
- Chapter Six, Invasion of The Land - Reed frog chorus at sunset, Amboseli National Park, Kenya.
- Chapter Seven, A Watertight Skin - Seawash around basking marine iguanas, Isla San Cristóbal, Galapagos.
- Chapter Eight, Lords of The Air - Springtime dawn chorus with nightingale, Hambleton wood, Rutland Water nature reserve, UK.
- Chapter Nine, Eggs, Pouches and Placentas - forest chorus along riverside platypus territory, Queensland, Australia.
- Chapter Ten, Theme and Variation - Common Pipistrelle bats echolocating after sunset, Holystone woodland, Northumberland.
- Chapter Eleven, The Hunters and The Hunted - Spotted hyena contact calls at midnight in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
- Chapter Twelve, A Life in The Trees - Black howler monkeys calling across the tree canopy at sunrise in Belize.
- Chapter Thirteen, The Compulsive Communicators - Street market, Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, Northern India.
- Epilogue - Beach habitat in mangroves with Great frigatebirds and red footed boobies, Isla Genovesa, Galapagos.
Critic reviews
"It does not disappoint. The new Life on Earth is as glorious as the first." (Guardian)
"This natural history masterpiece offers a spectacular snapshot of a once-wild planet." (New Scientist)
What listeners say about Life on Earth
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Alec Davis
- 05-10-18
Absolutely brilliant
I was some what sceptical about this at first...how could the magnificent tv series with all the amazing photography be translated into an audio recording. David Attenborough's beguiling voice in the sample convinced me to try it and I am so glad that I did.
I cannot recommend this highly enough. I know I shall play it over again and again as it makes such wonderful listening, and the word pictures he creates more than compensate for the lack of photographic imagery. In a way the time sequences of the millions of years make more sense.
29 people found this helpful
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- J. Drew
- 24-03-20
The story of life is amazing
This is a simply wonderful book. And the wonderful David Attenborough both writes a book that blows your mind and makes you look at everything around you with the an ever more increased wonder then you could have ever thought possible in a voice that will make you listen, feel relaxed and allow your mind to gently explode and splatter on the walls around you. Whereas his documentaries make you watch and wonder at amazing and wondrous miracles of life, this puts everything into context with a narrative that tells us how we actually got here. It begins with how we are able to understand the past through fossils and now through genetic decoding. The story starts 3 1/2 billion years ago as life first emerged a simple forms of bacteria which slowly and gradually evolved over millions of years. The Grand Canyon layers of rock beautifully explain some of the story and stretch back millions of years. And then plants and trees and early marine, sea like creatures through to dinosaurs which were wiped out in the fifth (and currently last) mass extinction event. Genes crested ever more evolving and complicated life. Then we learn how flowers create petals and colour - so they could develop more ingenious methods to transplant seeds by insects. We learn how ants know to create a colony that determines who becomes a soldier ant, a worker or a queen. Ants can communicate with one another to form a hive that is dependent on everyone knowing their role in their place and how they work with one another for this to occur. Salmon can leave its place of birth, swim out into the ocean and when they become fully formed adult return back to its original river that it came from by a sense of smell (salmon with damaged nostrils struggle to return to home), chemically change from seawater to freshwater and returned to the place they came from.. Then the mail salmon changes into a fighting machine and breeds with her mate and then all the salmon fall apart and die, never to return to the ocean again but mate with a female and then having laid 1000 eggs which will perform the same feat over and over again as the parents body falls to pieces and dies.
15 people found this helpful
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- Alexandra Norman
- 02-12-19
Incredible
Absolutely loved listening to this. So glad for the recommendation. I listened to this for about two hours every night as I was going to sleep. David Attenborough truly brings the animals and their habitats alive, as well as reminding us all about the impact we humans are having on the natural world through hunting, deforestation and climate change.
A truly brilliant book that I cannot recommend enough.
7 people found this helpful
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- Kevdawn1
- 19-03-19
World class audio book
I highly recommend this audio book. It is very insightful, full of interesting facts about how life has evolved and shaped modern day environments
6 people found this helpful
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- ATR
- 14-03-19
Captivating and mesmerising!
The story is already know by most of us. As usual when David Attenborough is involved it's told in a engaging and captivating style, with the best voice a narrator could have and with so much liveliness that one at times see pictures instead of just hearing words. Truly recommend.
4 people found this helpful
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- David. E
- 15-02-19
Simply astonishing
An amazing book. I cannot recommend it any higher. Download and listen to this now
4 people found this helpful
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- Charlie Raybould
- 13-10-19
Inspiring
Such a great book and David narrates so well, I may as well have been watching the tv show. Interesting and educational.
3 people found this helpful
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- Hayley Wilkinson
- 03-11-18
Brilliant!!
This is my first book on this app and I love it. It is a great book and I can not fault it.
6 people found this helpful
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- Jasminelouisa
- 08-08-20
sleep
I listen to it every night to help me fall asleep. Love it. Thanks David you babe 💕💕💕💕💕
2 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-09-19
Great
A I can say is what a man and what a great listen
He will and should go down in history
2 people found this helpful
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- Dave
- 25-09-18
100% Pure Attenborough
I enjoy a good, long Attenborogh read. Sedatingly relaxing, and yet, stimulating. The subtle, witty humor is priceless. Sadly, intelligent, entertaining, and informative intellectuals such as Attenborogh, Sagan, Chrichton, and C. Clark are almost exctinct. I play your Audiobooks to my daughter, Mr. Attenborough, so she may gain the wonderful gift of incite into the natural world you gave to me.
21 people found this helpful
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- Writing
- 26-12-18
Worth listening to several times
I had no idea when I downloaded this easy to miss book that it would bring as much pleasure and knowledge into my life. It is a book that tells what is arguable the most important story on the planet earth: how does life happen. Or perhaps more egocentrically: How did humans happen. I'm not sure if Attenborough set out to tell the story of how humans happen but he starts with the primordial soup on earth 4 billion years ago and moves through invertebrates, vertebrates, reptiles, birds, mammals, and then starts zeroing in on primates and ends with us. It's a lovely story and one that we think we know but there is plenty in this book that will remind you of things you thought you once knew and plenty that you've never heard before. Example: there is this frog that gets eggs implanted in scratches under the skin of its back where the eggs mature and then burst forth when they are ready. Forgive my imprecision -- I'm often listening late at night -- and it's soothing -- I listen to it over and over. Attenborough's voice is mesmerizing and the story he tells is of immense importance -- we are the only species on this planet that has altered the planet to the degree that we have. He stop short of writing a global warming polemic -- but I hope we will one day. I'll listen to that too!
17 people found this helpful
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- bob fields
- 11-09-19
Dave!
A quick revisit of the biology you forgot from school read by Dave. He uses interesting examples to illustrate ideas. Starts w the beginning of life and follows animal and plant biology forward from simple to complex life. I’m a wildlife nerd and this was a good refresher with lots of interesting specifics. And I got to listen to 13 hrs of DA reading to me.
7 people found this helpful
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- Phillip F. Reid
- 14-03-19
David Attenborough tells the story of life
as only he can. Treasure. Worth listening to all the way through even if you're familiar with the BBC series.
7 people found this helpful
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- Stephan
- 16-01-20
Exquisite
As David Attenborough says, this is indeed the greatest story ever told. A beautifully narrated tale of the evolution of all animals told chronologically from the beginning of time up to today, covering all living thing, why they are the way they are and why they do what they do. As with all of his books and shows you are guaranteed to learn something new through his interesting tales of weird and wonderful creatures and their quirky behaviours.
David’s narration takes this book to a whole new level and could not have been more perfect.
5 people found this helpful
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- Kaksi Maksi
- 21-02-19
Excellent look at the history of life
This is a very well written book from David Attenborough, detailing the history of life on Earth, from the very beginning. He takes us through all of the developments of life, like adapting to living on land, in an easy to understand manner, always giving evolutionary explanations as to why things happened the way they did.
His performance is perfect as usual, he speaks clearly, understandably.
Five star book, recommended to everyone.
5 people found this helpful
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- Grace K
- 05-12-18
Life itself
Sir David has a voice that is both enthralling and soothing. The content is fascinating as well
5 people found this helpful
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- TJ Granack
- 16-02-20
Nothing but Love for Mr Attenborough
My favorite "go to" David Attenborough audiobook. Every chapter is a gem, and each start with the sounds of nature. Well written and presented in that wonderful voice.
TJ Granack
4 people found this helpful
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- James S Varner
- 07-11-18
amazing as always
well written, well read. always a pleasure to experience the writing of Sir David Attenborough.
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Story

- Stephanie Payne
- 02-08-20
David Attenborough does it again!!
If you are a diehard fan of Sir David Attenborough, then you will love this book!! It really has some interesting chapters & he tells the start of life so brilliantly & thoroughly! After reading/listening to this book, you will have a much better understanding of how life got started & the way it happened! I highly recommend it!
2 people found this helpful