This great book is at once a readable introduction to palaeobiology, the fossil record and evolutionary theory (with contributions from Michael Benton, Christine Janis, Peter Andrews, Christopher Stringer and others) and a unique illustrated survey (with hundreds of paintings, drawings, charts and graphs) of the history of life on earth. The authors take us (in chronological sequence) from the emergence of bacteria 4 billion years ago to the evolution of Homo sapiens in recent geological time.