The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and… (1995)

Flannery has a point (or several) to make and he makes and remakes them time and again to the point of (almost) screaming frustration or dull submission. What saves this book is the countless dips into prehistory and modern scientific analysis that he uses to illustrate his ideas. Essentially he suggests that Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia are all examples of populations of living creatures (including humans) that have developed in isolation and under pressure (usually lack of resources).

The deep question he poses is whether these examples have something to tell us about how we might live in the current world, and survive (collectively speaking) into the future. But on the way he also addresses (in a fairly rigorous way) questions of evolution, animal and plant extinction, the spread of human populations and the role of climate and fire in the environment. For anyone interested in the environment in this part of the world this is essential reading. Readers from other parts of the world might find the combination of a barrage of ideas and an avalanche of foreign examples just a little to much to take at one sitting, and might seek out a more 'local' story. However, this book does constitute an ideal introduction to the region for those with the interest to 'get to know it'. Flannery has impeccable credentials as a naturalist who has worked all over this region since the 1980's and has written some excellent books about those days, including 'Throwim Away Leg' and 'Among the Islands'. ( )