This is a well written and clearly illustrated coffee table book for the general public. At £12.99, it also represents very good value for money. The author sets out to select and describe 50 animal species (from small parasitic worms and leeches to large elephants and whales) that have had a major impact on the history of humans (featured last in the book). The 50 animals are classified by their function and impacts (edible, medicinal, commercial and practical). Besides the more obvious domesticated animals that we have used over the last 20,000 years or so, including horses, cattle, pigs, camels, goats, chickens and turkeys, llamas, and dogs and cats, the book includes serious pest species like the malaria mosquito, which evolved about 400 million years ago and which has killed millions of humans, being described as a ‘tropical vampire’. At the other extreme, humans are described as the ‘new kids on the block’, with our genus, Homo, being barely 2.5 million years old and our species emerging from Africa only around 250,000 years ago. The chapter on ‘us’ alarmingly concludes that, in terms of evolution, humans have already reached ‘the point of no return’ in terms of climate change and depleting natural resources. I think the book will appeal to a broad audience of older children and adults. It is packed with interesting facts and written in an easily digestible style. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the history, evolution and ecology of animals, including humans.