No Turning Back

Conservationist Richard Ellis’s fascinating examination of extinction, “one of the most powerful forces on earth, and one of the most enigmatic”

In No Turning Back, naturalist Richard Ellis conducts a masterful and engrossing investigation of one of the world’s most harrowing inevitabilities: extinction. Taking a concentrated look at a variety of species—from those that went out with a bang upon the impact of an Everest-sized asteroid to those that gradually disappeared after years of human overhunting—Ellis discusses the five great mass extinctions in history, and how extinction shapes the evolutionary process. He also outlines the steps we can take to ensure that today’s endangered species can be pulled back from the brink. Richly illustrated with Ellis’s stunning, hand-drawn artwork, No Turning Back is an invaluable read for anyone seeking to understand the past, present, and future of life on our planet.