A Gap in Nature

This marvellous and moving book is at once a lament for the lost animals of the world, and a paper ark to house them forever in human memory. Tim Flannery and wildlife artist Peter Schouten have commemorated 103 creatures which have vanished from the face of the Earth since 1492.

Readers will be entranced by Peter Schouten's irresistible colour representations of the moa, the dodo and the astonishing Steller's sea cow which was eight metres long and weighed ten tonnes. Each painting is accompanied by Tim Flannery's evocative account of the vanished creature. Animals from every continent are represented in this homage to a lost Eden inhabited by American passenger pigeons, Tasmanian thylacines and African bluebucks.

Praise for A Gap in Nature:

'The paintings create a sense of loss, and a sense of wonder, like looking through a window and being given a brief glimpse of some rare treasure…This is a breathtaking book.'

Age

'Beauty and tragedy mix in equal proportions in this wonderful book.'

Burke's Backyard

'These paintings have a religious quality, speaking to collective guilt, if not original sin.'

Australian Book Review

'Poignant and visually stunning…Flannery's prose is elegant and compelling, as always. Schouten's paintings…drive home the ache and loss that follows extinction. His portraits are luminous reminders of how much we have lost on our planet-wide rampage, and how much science needs to learn to help put the brakes on human-induced exctinctions.'

New Scientist

'It's a beautiful tribute in illustration and text.'

Daily Telegraph