Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before [Hardcover]

Alastair Fothergill (Author), David Attenborough (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this gorgeous coffee-table book, an offshoot of the Discovery Channel/ BBC series of the same name, zoologist and BBC producer Fothergill takes readers on a kaleidoscopic tour of the flora, fauna and natural history of the Earth's poles, forests, plains, deserts, mountains and oceans. The series of jaw-dropping photographs starts with a view of Earth from the moon (and pointing out the obvious but shocking fact that no one has been able to see it live since the 1972 Apollo 17 mission). Other images reveal the astonishing variety of geology and life around the globe, including an emperor penguin eyeing an enormous jade-green iceberg; a grove of ancient monkey puzzle trees on the slopes of the Andes; a wild (and endangered) two-humped Bactrian camel strolling with her calf across the Gobi Desert; a long-furred, red-eyed gelada (a kind of primate) perched on a cliff in the Ethiopian highlands; a cave explorer parachuting into Mexico's 1,100-foot-deep Cave of Swallows; a blimplike nerpa (the only known fresh-water seal) swimming through Siberia's Lake Baikal; and the lacy undulations of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta captured by satellite. The book's only drawback is its large size and heavy weight, which makes for cumbersome reading. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

This is the companion volume to the BBC/Discovery Channel series I^ Planet Earth, narrated by renowned naturalist and pioneer of the nature documentary Sir David Attenborough and produced by Fothergill. The two paired up to create the series I^ The Blue Planet (1998), the first natural history documentary presented in high definition, and now Fothergill presents a collection of more than 400 photographs that focus on what is most wonderful about the living world. He takes readers on a whirlwind tour from the frozen poles to the great forests, across the Great Plains and great sands, up to the mountain heights, down into the underworld, into fresh water and rain forests, over to shallow seas and down to the ocean depths, capturing the wonders of plant and animal life. A superb wake-up call to protect the treasures of the planet that sustain, and enrich, us, I^ Planet Earth is a feast for the eyes and soul, presented with the best and latest technology. Pamela Crossland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (March 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520250540
• ISBN-13: 978-0520250543
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 10.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #159,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent accompaniment to the DVD set, or alone., April 12, 2007

By	Little Dragon (Montana USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before (Hardcover)

Its Loaded with pictures from the series on DVD set. At first I found the DVD set to be terribly expensive for my pocketbook (limited income), and while looking for this DVD set, I came across this book and ordered it INSTEAD, thinking it would be the only thing I could afford. I love it!! Worth the money! BUT after having seen some of the series on TV and hearing what they had to go thru and the years it took to get this series made for us, I thought WOW, it is TOTALLY worth the price and More even!!! I am so grateful to the makers of this series for bringing us a message of the earth and its occupants and how fragile and strong it is at the same time.. Brings a new appreciation of it all !! I highly recommend the book for those who maybe cannot afford the DVD set, but I hope all who can will consider getting both!!! I DID!!

52 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Only one complaint, May 19, 2007

By	R. Hettinger (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before (Hardcover)

Most of the books images have been poorly resized upwards. Almost every image is marred by pixelization -- Zebra stripes have jagged stairsteps. While original digital footage was shot with enough resolution for HD DVD, those screen captures do not have enough detail for good prints.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular photos, December 14, 2007

By	Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before (Hardcover)

The first thing that a reader notes, as he or she leafs through the pages of this volume, is the spectacular color photos. This work is a companion to a series on Discovery Channel and BBC. The goal of the series and the book is described by David Attenborough in the Foreword: "So this remarkable and beautiful book should stand not just as a revelation and celebration of the wonders that our planet still retains at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It must surely also be seen as an eloquent rallying call to all of us who care for the Earth's welfare to redouble our efforts to protect those wonders that still survive."

The "chapters" of this work include the following: The Whole Earth, Frozen Poles, The Great Forests, The Great Plains, The Great Sands, Mountain Heights, The Underworld, Fresh Water, Rainforests, Shallow Seas, and Open Ocean Depths.

Some wonderful photos. . . . In "Frozen Poles," we see some of those great photos of Emperor Penguins huddled together to protect themselves against the cold, we see the marches from the sea after having filled their bellies with food, and so on. The photos remind us of that great recent movie on the lives of Emperor penguins. On pages 44-45, there are three wonderful photos of a polar bear family.

Some stunning satellite photos are included. On pages 160-161, there is a satellite view of rain clouds being pushed across India by monsoon winds. On pages 222-223, there is another wonderful satellite photo of the world's largest river delta.

The chapter on rainforests (Chapter 9) is also beautiful. Whether satellite photos or more "up close" pictures, this chapter shows us the lustrous appearance of rainforests. We also see the animals living in the rainforests.

And so on.

And though the photos are breathtaking, the text itself speaks to the issues raised in each of the chapters. Pages 188-193 combine text of a recent cave discovery (in New Mexico) with some neat pictures of those same caves. The combination of text and photos is compelling.

I must confess that this review does not contain much analysis or critique, but this is one of those books where I choose simply to appreciate the artistry of the photos and go from there.