Jungle: how tropical forests shaped the world - and us

Jungle is a new and ambitious history of the world, telling the remarkable story of the world's tropical forests from the arrival of the first plants millions of years ago to the role of tropical forests in the evolution of the world's atmosphere, the dinosaurs, the first mammals and even our own species and ancestors. Highlighting provocative new evidence garnered from cutting-edge research, Dr Roberts shows, for example, that our view of humans as 'savannah specialists' is wildly wrong, and that the 'Anthropocene' began not with the Industrial Revolution, but potentially as early as 6,000 years ago in the tropics. We see that the relationship between humankind and 'jungles' is deep-rooted, that we are all connected to their destruction, and that we must all act to save them. Urgent, clear-sighted and original, Jungle challenges the way we think about the world - and ourselves.1 Into the light - the beginning of the world as we know it 2 A tropical world 3 'Goondwanan' forest and the dinosaurs 4 'Tree-houses' for the first mammals 5 The leafy cradles of our ancestors 6 On the tropical origins of our species 7 Farmed forests 8 Island paradises lost? 9 Cities in the 'jungle' 10 Europe and the tropics in the 'Age of Exploration' 11 Globalization of the tropics 12 A tropical 'Anthropocene'? 13 House on fire 14 A global responsibilit