Galapagos: Islands Born of Fire (30th Anniversary Edition)

Tui De Roy’s unforgettable photographic tour of the Galapagos—now with new photographs, updated text, and a new prologue by the authorEver since the days of Darwin, the Galapagos Islands have captured the imagination of the world. This book displays the ethereal—even haunting—quality of these islands in words and pictures like never before. This 30th anniversary edition of the sequel to Tui De Roy’s first book, Galapagos: Islands Lost in Time, is the culmination of a life’s work exploring and recording the secrets of the Galapagos.The text flows from an intimate knowledge of, and deep love for, the Galapagos, and the quality of the imagery reflects the author’s place as one of the world’s top wildlife photographers.When this book was first published in 1997, the Galapagos Islands were reaching a critical crossroads, and the intervening decades have been challenging ones. Yet the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galapagos National Park have, together, reversed the slide toward extinction of a number of species, populations, and races, and restored the ecosystems of many islands to a pristine or near-pristine state.As well as visiting the coastlines with their vibrant seas, penguins, turtles, and marine iguanas, the reader is taken into active volcanic calderas where life hangs in the balance each time the volcano remakes itself, follows the seasons of the giant tortoise, dives into the twilight world of sperm whales and hammerhead sharks, and treads on still-steaming volcanic ground so new it has never felt a human footfall. Ten photo essays showcase the special birds and animals that make Galapagos their home.