One hundred and fifty years after the publication of ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, award-winning writer Alanna Mitchell retraces the development of evolutionary theory, grappling with Richard Leakey’s contention that a massive extinction of the planet’s species is well under way. From Madagascar, the ‘last living Eden’ to the Galapagos, Darwin’s natural laboratory, from the Azraq Oasis in Jordan to the Arctic desert of Banks Island, from the rainforests of Suriname to Iceland’s volcanic crust, Mitchell travels to hotspots where the environment has been all but destroyed, and she shows how, against the odds, individuals have convinced governments to create protected areas, even to seek out new energy sources. DANCING AT THE DEAD SEA intertwines scientific theory with travel, adventure and history, creating a dramatic, fresh narrative voice. In effect, Mitchell picks up where Darwin left off - examining not the origin but the ultimate fate of the human species and the world we inhabit.