Lost Wonders (10 Tales Of Extinction From The 21st Century)

By (author) Lathan, Tom; Illustrated by Kohda, Claire
Short description/annotation:
What happens when the delicate balance of life is disturbed? Lost Wonders tells ten remarkable stories of species which have become extinct since the turn of the millennium and the people who worked to save them.
Description:

Shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies award for nature writing.

In Lost Wonders Tom Lathan tells ten powerful stories of species that have lived, died out and been declared extinct since the turn of the twenty-first century.

''Timely, elegiac'' - The Daily Mail
''Superb storytelling . . . an exhilarating and vital book'' - Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild

Lost Wonders is a series of fascinating encounters with subjects that are now nowhere to be found on Earth. From giant tortoises to minuscule snails the size of sesame seeds, from ocean-hopping trees to fish that wag their tails like puppies, Tom Lathan brings these lost wonders briefly back to life and gives us a tantalizing glimpse of what we have lost within our own lifetime.

Drawing on the personal recollections of the people who studied these species, as well as those who tried but ultimately failed to save them, and with beautiful illustrations, Lost Wonders is an intimate portrait of the species that have only recently vanished from our world. It is also an urgent warning to hold on all the more tightly to those now slipping from our grasp.

Illustrated by Claire Kohda

Review quote:
Timely, elegiac
Review quote:
Lathan''s superb storytelling makes ecological crisis personal, local and often scarily visible. He doesn''t let the tragedy hide, as it usually does, behind graphs and abstractions. Yet there''s hope here too, in spades. This is an exhilarating and vital book.
Review quote:
Not just a timely epitaph . . . but a celebration of their existence, reminding us of their wonder.
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A beautifully crafted elegy for the lost species of our age. In repopulating the world with extinct snails, lizards, bats and rats, Tom Lathan makes us marvel and care almost as much as the conservationists who tried and failed to save them.
Review quote:
These are important stories and Lathan tells them with pathos and sensitivity.
Biographical note:

Tom Lathan is an author and journalist living in Kent. His writing has appeared in publications including The Guardian, the Financial Times, and The Times Literary Supplement. He volunteers with Kent Wildlife Trust, working as part of their initiative to introduce wild bison to the UK at West Blean and Thornden Woods Nature Reserve. Lost Wonders is Lathan’s first book and was the recipient of a Society of Authors award.

Claire Kohda is an author, musician and artist. Her debut novel, Woman, Eating, was a book of the year in Harper’s Bazaar, New Yorker, Glamour, BBC and HuffPost. As a violinist she has played with artists including Sigur Rós and The National, and on various film soundtracks. Lost Wonders is the first book she has illustrated.