Read more
A transformative exploration of the animal kingdom that will fill you with wonder, revealing the Earth''s wild civilizations as you''ve never seen them before Recent breakthroughs in scientific observation have revealed in astounding detail just how many species construct durable habitats and transit networks, and draw lines around the area they call home--a process known as In From awe-inspiring animal metropolises and Silk Road-style migration routes to nonhuman nations that span entire continents, each animal society looks distinctly different. This one-of-a-kind book opens up a better and more complete conception of the world that we all inhabit, inspired by the naturalist Henry Beston''s claim of animals that "they are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”
About the author
Ryan Huling is an explorer and sustainable food systems specialist based in Sierra Madre, California. He currently serves as a senior writer at the Good Food Institute Asia Pacific. His columns have appeared in
Nature,
Wired,
USA Today,
The Nikkei, and the
South China Morning Post.
Oliver Uberti is a former senior design editor for
National Geographic and the coauthor of three critically acclaimed books of maps and graphics:
Atlas of the Invisible,
Where the Animals Go, and
London: The Information Capital, each of which won the top British Cartographic Society Award for cartographic excellence. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Summary
A transformative exploration of the animal kingdom that will fill you with wonder, revealing Earth's wild civilizations as you've never seen them before
In The Hidden Nations of Animals, Ryan Huling takes us on an odyssey to places most people don’t even know exist. From far-flung forest settlements in Canada’s “beaver belt” and disputed territories of clashing Argentine ant armies to the secluded margins of the Korean DMZ—which, despite its reputation as a desolate no-man’s-land, teems with life—Huling’s journey unveils a radically reimagined world, brimming with abundance.
Along the way, we meet internationally renowned wildlife researchers, geographers, anthropologists, and historians whose work has uncovered animal metropolises nestled within the urban sprawl of the American Southwest, vast sub-Saharan tunnel complexes mere inches beneath our feet, and ancient Silk Road-style migration routes that traverse the Eurasian Steppe.
When humans settle in an area, it is deemed, by definition, populated. By contrast, the millions of other species we share this planet with have long been viewed as fleeting ephemera, living brief and transitory lives in “uninhabited” wilderness.
Over the course of a year, Huling investigates how technology is rapidly changing that perception by deepening humanity’s understanding of our fellow animals and their unique relationships with the land, air, and sea. His immersive account fuses with vivid full-color maps and hand-drawn sketches by award-winning cartographer Oliver Uberti, adding new layers to our landscapes and illuminating their true contours for the first time.
An instant classic of nature writing, The Hidden Nations of Animals is a breathtaking blueprint for a more expansive view of animalkind, inspired by the profound sense of awe that accompanies an expedition into unknown lands.
