Life on a Little-Known Planet

PRAISE FOR ELIZABETH KOLBERT'S PREVIOUS BOOKS One of the great science journalists, Kolbert has for many years been an essential voice, a reporter from the front lines of the environmental crisis ... Important, necessary, urgent and phenomenally interesting

Helen Macdonald, New York Times

A terrific look at humanity's impact on the Earth

Bill Gates

A wonderful book

Barack Obama

A meticulously researched and deftly crafted work of journalism that explores some of the biggest challenges of our age

Guardian

[Kolbert is] the premier chronicler of humanity's thoughtless destruction of our habitat

Washington Post

No one rivals Kolbert’s ability to write deeply, empathetically and engagingly about mankind’s relationship with the physical world ... She brings curiosity and persistence to the most important issues facing humankind

Chris Goodall, author of What We Need to Do Now

There is surely no better way to understand our changing world than through the uniquely engaging perspectives provided by Elizabeth Kolbert. Joining her on this round-the-world voyage to some of the most incredible places on Earth is a treat ... Immensely sobering yet also inspiring

Chris Fitch, author of Wild Cities

To be a well-informed citizen of Planet Earth, you need to read Elizabeth Kolbert … It’s a tribute to Kolbert’s skills as a storyteller that she transforms the quest to deal with the climate crisis into a darkly comic take of human hubris and imagination that could either end in flames or in a new vision of paradise

Rolling Stone

Our finest journalist on climate change

Chicago Tribune

Kolbert’s beat is examining the impact of humans on the environment, and she does it better than basically everyone

Lit Hub

What’s exceptional about Kolbert’s writing is the combination of scientific rigour and wry humour that keeps you turning the pages

National Geographic

Kolbert [has a] sculptor-like skill for making climate change feel tangible, happening before our eyes and beneath our fingers

Wired

Elizabeth Kolbert's writing illuminates the world's complexities in vivid colour. No one contextualises the natural world better than she does, and no one is able to describe its many facets better than her

Harriet Rix, author of The Genius of Trees

Kolbert is a masterful, thought-provoking reporter

Boston Globe

Kolbert's reporting is, as always, skilful and subtle

Guardian

Kolbert gracefully balances a realistic awareness of losses brought about by human activity -particularly by the use of fossil fuels - with a sense of wonder at just how much there is still to learn about this ‘little-known planet’ and admiration for those who quixotically explore and attempt to heal it. ... Despair and hope dance together [in these] thought-provoking speculations about a world on the edge of violent change

Kirkus Review, starred review

Kolbert brings every creature, place, person, fact, and issue to scintillating life in these deft, engaging, lucid, and thought-provoking dispatches covering 20 years of her world travels during epic planetary changes. ... Kolbert resolutely and brilliantly alerts us to how little we know about our precious planet, how much harm we do, and how we must and can do better

Booklist

Kolbert is one of our most important and lucid voices on climate change, and she’s been ringing the bell for longer than most. This book ... will be essential

Literary Hub

An intimate portrait of the natural world ... With clear-eyed urgency and a measure of tenderness, Kolbert chronicles the lives of people trying to hold on to what's slipping away

New Yorker, Best Books of the Year 2025

Kolbert, in her clean, precise prose, asks us ... to be curious, to pay attention, and not look away from the imperilled beauty of our planet ... The book works well as a primer for the guiding issues and ideas that comprise 21st-century environmentalism ... Kolbert has a knack for elucidating abstract concepts - sea level rise, de-extinction, genetic engineering, invasive species - by locating them in particular places and people

Adam Weymouth, Resurgence & Ecologist

Kolbert’s writing is serious but adroit [with] just enough wry humour. The necessity of fitting huge subjects into 20 clear pages suits her style. Each essay is pacy, with energising turns ... Kolbert [is] a necessary voice on the environment

Observer

There is a great deal that humanity doesn’t know about how the world works, and expanding that knowledge may turn out to be crucial ... Life on a Little-known Planet is a worthwhile and convenient collection from one of the best-known writers on climate change and the environment

Library Journal

Life on a Little-known Planet is a master class in how to write about our changing world

Mother Jones Magazine

Kolbert has radically informed the way modern audiences understand climate change, and her newest collection is no exception, zooming into stories of hope, activism, and innovation across the globe

The Millions Magazine