Feral Future: The Untold Story of Australia’s Exotic Invaders
Reference Environmental History Invasive Species Ecology Australian Natural History Conservation Biology Science Communication Environmental Policy
Tim Low’s first-edition classic Feral Future (Viking, 1999) is the book that rewrote Australia’s environmental story. In 380 illustrated pages the award-winning ecologist exposes how foxes, cane toads, lantana, European carp and more than 3 000 other introduced species are quietly re-engineering the continent’s soils, rivers and bush. First-edition copies are now scarce, especially in the clean, tight condition offered here; collectors and students alike hunt this 1999 printing because it contains the original maps, photographs and data tables that were redrawn or omitted in later reprints.
What makes Feral Future enduringly valuable is its blend of page-turning narrative with hard scientific reference. Low travels from the Torres Strait pearling grounds to Tasmanian trout streams, meeting farmers, park rangers and scientists who witnessed the invasions first-hand. Along the way he explains invasion-biology concepts—lag phases, enemy-release, genetic founder effects—in language that secondary-school readers can grasp yet university lecturers still quote. The result is a single-volume handbook that doubles as an armchair adventure, equally at home on a bushwalker’s pack-shelf or a student’s essay bibliography.
Owners of this copy gain more than a good read; they acquire a conversation-starting slice of Australian publishing history. The bright, unmarked wrappers show no smoke or sun damage, the binding is square, and every chart and photo plate is present—details that matter to collectors building a conservation library. Whether you’re a teacher assembling classroom resources, a gardener fighting pasture weeds, or a collector who appreciates a first-issue ISBN 9780670884650, this very-good copy of Feral Future delivers the untold invasion story that still shapes Australia’s land-management debates today.
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