A recent article highlights six newly released nonfiction books that examine humanity's connections to animals, history, nature, and the cosmos. These works draw on science, history, and observation to challenge perceptions and reveal influences on human life. Published in March, they offer insights into our shared world.
The article presents a selection of global nonfiction titles released this March, focusing on how humans interact with and are shaped by the broader world.
In Animate: How Animals Shape the Human Mind by Michael Bond, the author uses psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to show how animals have influenced human cognition and culture since hunter-gatherer times. It questions human exceptionalism and calls for better treatment of coexisting species.
Frank Dikötter's Red Dawn Over China: How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity details the Chinese Communist Party's rise from 1921, reliant on Soviet aid despite early failures and destruction. The book describes survival during the Japanese occupation and victory in 1949 through relentless warfare.
Fay Bound Alberti's The Face: A Cultural History traces the face's role in identity across history, from Renaissance portraits to modern technologies like facial recognition and transplants. It explores how faces reflect morality, hierarchy, and biases.
Matt Ridley's Birds, Sex and Beauty: The Extraordinary Implications of Charles Darwin’s Strangest Idea observes bird courtship, such as Black Grouse leks, to discuss sexual selection's evolution. It connects Darwin's ideas to contemporary biology and celebrates avian displays worldwide.
Dagomar Degroot's Ripples on the Cosmic Ocean: How The Solar System Shaped Human History – And May Help Save Our Planet links solar system events—like Martian storms affecting the Cold War or Venus's volcanoes warning of climate risks—to human affairs. It promotes interplanetary environmental awareness.
Finally, Jo Wimpenny's Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature’s Least Loved Animals defends species like wasps and snakes, highlighting their ecological benefits and sentience. The book argues against vilification and stresses their role in ecosystems.
All details come from publisher information, emphasizing factual explorations without added speculation.