| Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before | 
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| Authors: Alastair Fothergill, Jonathan Keeling, Vanessa Berlowitz, Mark Brownlow, Huw Cordey, Mark Linfield
Creator: Sir David Attenborough
Publisher: BBC Books
Category: Book
List Price: £25.00
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £24.99 (100%)
New (26) Used (70) from £0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 4552
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 312
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.1
Dimensions (in): 11.1 x 10.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0563522127
EAN: 9780563522126
ASIN: 0563522127
Publication Date: October 5, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not bad but not fantastic September 25, 2008
The book is by Alastair Fothergill not David Attenborough who just writes the one page foreword, not that it matters too much as the text still contains interesting information with lots of good pictures. However the pictures are not superb, they are a silk finish rather than glossy making then look quite flat and one dimensional and the whole book looks like someone reined in the budget rather hard, not perhaps what one might expect from a book endorsed by the BBC. You are more likely to flick through the book than gaze and drool over the pictures and not long perhaps before you're standing the coffee cups on the book before relegating this one to that shelf with the others that you don't pick up so often. The DVD is a much better product if you still want a book try the DK series "Ocean", "Earth", etc, these are much better
 A Revealing Look at Extreme Conditions and Their Effects on Life January 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Planet Earth would make a great present for a young person who is interested in the natural world. It opens up views from the microscopic level up to the perspectives from the moon that unveil the Earth and its animals and plants in new ways. It's almost as though you have just arrived on a spaceship to an unknown world. Most of the book will seem unfamiliar to you.
Where many books about the natural world are filled with seeming hyperbole ("you can see this feature from space"), Planet Earth does its best to display the basis for those references by making the statement and showing the photographic evidence. As a result, this book makes a serious impression on the range of challenging environments on Earth, the reasons for each challenge, and examples of how animals and plants have successfully adapted to those challenges. Darwin would be envious that you can see more in one book than he could in a lifetime of study.
If you didn't see the television series or the DVD, here's the structure:
Whole Earth (overview of how the various regions differ and why)
Frozen Poles (the Arctic and the Antarctic and why they differ)
Great Forests (huge bands of trees in temperate climes)
Great Plains (the semi-arid regions)
Grand Sands (extended deserts both hot and cold)
Mountain Heights (the highest peaks and their environments)
Underworld (caves)
Fresh Water (lakes and rivers)
Rainforests (tropical jungles)
Shallow Seas (Coral-inhabited areas)
Open Ocean Depths (the bulk of the seas)
Each section contains information about the geology, physics, and chemistry of the region's character and origins. A number of stories about the plants and animals that inhabit the areas are included. The section also displays some of the most magnificent views. The book is generously illustrated with the text being less than half of the pages printed.
The book's main drawback is that the photographs are often not reproduced very well. As a result, views may be muddy, indistinct, and hard to interpret. Take a few extra seconds and stare closely, and you'll usually see something remarkable. The book was obviously edited to provide the most unusual views, even where reproduction would suffer some. I think the decisions were usually pretty wise.
I cannot emphasize enough how fascinating I found the book. By taking me to so many places I will never see (restricted caves, unusual mountainsides, rare tropical locales, and Antarctica), I was able to extend my understanding of life on Earth in important new ways. I'm sure I'll be integrating the views for years to come.
I especially commend the sections about the whole Earth, Antarctica, untouched forests, limitless deserts, and caves as showing me new dimensions of why wilderness is important to us. Ansel Adams would have liked to see and photograph these sites.
Take a good look!
Great to see the series again...in the book October 31, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I used this to nurture my son's interest...and get him focused on his A'level geography, great buy, even more so as the price has come down since it was originally published
 Bit disappointing December 21, 2006
9 out of 14 found this review helpful
This book isn't actually by David Attenborough - who writes a foreword of less than a page!
I was a bit disappointed, overall - the ratio of text to pictures is quite high, and I thought many of the photos were not particularly great. The book has a bit of a "cheap" feel.
But - yes - good value at the price I paid for it, but I don't think it would be for the full price ......
Stunning book December 5, 2006
52 out of 55 found this review helpful
Every home should have one. The pictures are incredible - just like watching the series but you get to pore over every detail in your own time. I bought it as a Christmas present but I would love to keep a copy of it for myself. Just beautiful - and what a fantastic price!
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