Notes from Deep Time

Astounding ... To call this a history does not to justice to Helen Gordon's ambition. Her adventures in the deep time of Earth hark all the way back to its beginnings as a barren ocean planet, 4.4 billion years ago, while keeping one foot firmly planted in the depleted and desertified plaything we're left with today ... Notes From Deep Time sidesteps the maundering and finger-wagging that comes with much Anthropocene thinking, and shows us how much sheer intellectual and poetical entertainment there is to be had in the idea -- Simon Ings * Daily Telegraph, 5/5 stars * Notes From Deep Time is a marvel-rich masterclass of narrative non-fiction, one of those books that teaches its reader to see the world completely differently. That it does so with wit, wisdom and crystal-perfect prose only adds to the pleasure. To escape from the present into deep time with such a companionable guide is clarifying, almost therapeutic, and at times gratifyingly dizzying -- Max Porter, author * Lanny * Helen Gordon's wonderfully expansive book encompasses a paradoxical fluidity, both tangible and immense, where human witnesses measure out deep time in golden spikes and ammonites, excavating lost seas and saurians for clues as to what we were and who we will be -- Philip Hoare, author * Leviathan * A book as multi-layered as the deep-time planet itself -- Sara Wheeler, author * Terra Incognita * Sublime ... a fascinating and thrilling descent into time, human in scale but full of moments of vertiginous wonder -- Jon Day, author * Homing * Helen Gordon's terrifically readable book juxtaposes scenes from deep Earth time with telling accounts of how geologists forensically analyse the evidence for this enormous narrative - and looks to the future, too, as humans make their own additions to the planet's strata. Highly recommended -- Jan Zalasiewicz, author * The World in a Pebble * Questing, thoughtful and profoundly moving, Notes From Deep Time is a remarkable TARDIS of a book -- Dan Richards, author * Outpost *