The Genetic Book of the Dead

“Intellectually sparkling and beautifully crafted.”—Adrian Woolfson, Wall Street Journal

“A colorful tour of the natural kingdom from a gene’s-eye view. . . . A reminder of why [Dawkins] is still considered one of our finest scientific communicators.”—Times (UK), Science Book of the Year, 2024

“A delightful gallimaufry of stories about the evolution of everything from camouflaged frogs to ‘weakly electric fish.’”—Steven Poole, The Guardian, “Best Ideas Books of 2024”

“Punchy, funny and fascinating. . . . Charged with curiosity and delight.”—James McConnachie, Times (UK)

“A joyful celebration. . . . [Dawkins’s] ability to tell the glorious tale of evolution in action remains unrivalled.”—Clive Cookson, Financial Times

“Rich throughout. . . . A wonderful book in so many ways.”—Adam Rutherford, The Guardian

“Though Dr Dawkins’s topic is unchanging, his approach is always fresh. . . . The world needs public intellectuals who are willing to tell it, politely but persuasively, how it is. Dr Dawkins has long been happy to challenge his readers’ orthodoxies.”—The Economist

“[Dawkins’s] latest book . . . feels fresh, original and intellectually exciting.”—Tom Whipple, Times (UK)

“Dawkins, veteran champion of writing about evolution, remains in fine form. . . . Dawkins delves with fresh enthusiasm into the stories that a creature’s genes and morphology can tell about the environments that shaped its ancestors. Illustrations by Jana Lenzová enhance this beautifully produced book.”—Financial Times, “Best Books of 2024: Science”

“Richard Dawkins’s lovely new book is an old-fashioned miscellany of . . . zoological surprises. . . . Dawkins’s true aim, the literary evocation of wonder at the vast and improbable grandeur of nature, is consistently achieved.”—Steven Poole, The Telegraph

“Richard Dawkins’s new book is a glorious affair. Profusely illustrated in color by Jana Lenzová, it is arguably his most joyous ode to the wonders that evolution has wrought in the animal world.”—Philip Ball, Science

“This is an Attenborough-esque romp through some of the wonders of the natural world, reprising some of Dawkins’s greatest hits.”—New Scientist

“Dawkins is without doubt the most eminent evolutionary theorist, and one of the most effective science communicators, of our age.”—Tim Flannery, New Statesman

“[An] illuminating deep dive into genes, bodies and Darwinian natural selection. Highly readable and brilliantly illustrated.”—iNews, “Best New Books to Read in October 2024”

“The animal stories are often marvelous. It’s easy to forget, perhaps, what a fine natural-history writer Dawkins is.”—Nathaniel Comfort, Nature

“Ingenious stories in the service of deep natural history.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Astute. . . . The author’s talent for rendering complex concepts in lucid prose remains intact.”—Publishers Weekly

On the Financial Times Best Books of 2024 List: Science, Technology, and the Environment

“Richard Dawkins is the most accomplished science communicator of the past half century, and this book is a masterpiece of popular science writing.”—Tim Coulson, author of The Science of Why We Exist
 
“This book is a summation of the ideas of the author who brought us ‘memes’ and ‘selfish genes.’ Richard Dawkins’s lucid prose will change the way you think about your evolutionary past.”—David Haig, author of From Darwin to Derrida: Selfish Genes, Social Selves, and the Meanings of Life
 
“The ingenuity of evolution is infinite, a fact that fascinates Richard Dawkins as much as it fascinated Charles Darwin. Inside each organism he finds rich palimpsests chronicling the history of life itself.”—Matt Ridley, author of The Evolution of Everything and How Innovation Works
 
“The deployment of the conceit of genes looking backward in time is clever and well done. A piece of vivid popular science.”—Stephen Stearns, coauthor of Evolution: An Introduction

“Overflowing with the beauty of nature, the beauty of language, and the beauty of ideas.”—Steven Pinker, author of Rationality and Enlightenment Now

“Dazzling in originality and scope, with beautiful illustrations, this is a wonderful celebration of the power of natural selection. Richard Dawkins reveals with brilliant clarity the imprint on organisms of their evolutionary past.”—Nick Davies, author of Cuckoo: Cheating by Nature

“Once again, Richard Dawkins asks us to look at the living world in a totally novel way: Every organism carries, in its genes, a record of the past environments in which its ancestors survived. This brilliant new way of interpreting nature opens our eyes to both the past and the future.”—John R. Krebs, author of Food: A Very Short Introduction and coauthor of An Introduction to Behavioral Ecology

“Written with typical verve and panache, Richard Dawkins’s The Genetic Book of the Dead makes a brilliant contribution to the public understanding of evolution using our most up-to-date understanding of genetics. It will enthrall, surprise, and challenge you. Read it!”—Jerry A. Coyne, author of Why Evolution Is True and Faith Versus Fact

Richard Dawkins was the inaugural Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. His numerous books include the best-selling The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and The Blind Watchmaker. He lives in Oxford, UK. Jana Lenzová is a translator and illustrator and is acclaimed for her work on Dawkins’s Flights of Fancy. She lives in Oxford, UK.