Priceless : The Vanishing Beauty of A Fragile Planet
by Bradley Trevor Greive, Mitsuaki Iwago

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Book Reviews of Priceless : The Vanishing Beauty of A Fragile Planet

Book Review: My favourite book of wildlife photography
Summary: 5 Stars

We learn that "even polar bears from the Arctic Circle and penguins from Antarctica, creatures from the two most isolated and pure economic systems on earth, have a substantial build-up of toxic industrial chemicals stored in their fat deposits"; we learn that the first bomb dropped on Berlin during the Second World War killed the only elephant in the Berlin zoo; that the last passenger pigeon in existence died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. The most important lesson from the book, however, is that if we don't do something soon to stop poisoning our world, ultimately us humans will be the ones suffering.

But the book ends with a message of hope, telling us that there are ways we can make a difference and giving suggestions of things we can do. Greive finally pays tribute to Gerald Durrell, celebrated zoologist, conservationist and author. The last 25 pages give information and facts about all the animals featured in the photographs throughout the book.

I strongly feel that if everyone read through this book, they would appreciate their planet a little more and want to help things change for the better. If I could afford to do so I would give it to everyone I know. It is very easy to read, the text on each page limited to a few sentences which apply to the photographs. The photos range from light-hearted and whimsical to completely awe-inspiring. The perfect gift for animal lovers and environmentalists, but I urge everyone to take a look. It is an inspiring experience.

Summary of Priceless : The Vanishing Beauty of A Fragile Planet

There may be no more effective argument against environmental devastation than gorgeous photographs of adorable endangered animals--and this book is packed with them, accompanied by heartfelt entreaties about the looming extinction of dozens of species.

Australian author Bradley Trevor Greive writes an impassioned plea for environmental consciousness that glides between poetic ("you are the whole world, not just the space inside your clothes") and matter-of-fact ("It seems clear that our species is destined to be the cause of the sixth extinction"). The accompanying pictures by wildlife photographer Mitsuaki Iwago are captivating snapshots of disappearing animal worlds: a lion cub resting at sunset on the savanna, an elephant advancing across a plain while hundreds of white birds fly up before him.

Greive and Iwago explore the interconnectedness and similarity of all life, but carefully avoid assigning human characteristics to the animals. And humans will reap what they sow, Grieve warns: "Only now are we learning that just as we made life unbearable of the many delicate species we have lost, so too we are slowly but surely making this planet unsuitable to sustain even our own existence." Grieve's simple, spare prose, which rarely measures more than a sentence or two per page, is sprinkled with facts and figures on humans' steady corruption of the earth.

No reader will close the book unmoved by the beautiful, funny, and strange creatures in its pages. Amplifying this poignant call for action, Greive is donating all author proceeds from book sales to the Taronga Foundation, a wildlife conservation charity.

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