Reef Life

Compulsory reading for scuba divers and armchair divers alike, Roberts tells at times hilarious stories of the ups and downs of reef research * Discover Wildlife *A ravishing, alarming account of these underwater palaces of wonder, and the existential threat they face from humanity and our warming climate…The chief pleasure of this book is Roberts’s rich descriptive power. He was an adviser for Blue Planet 2, and his writing does more than justice to those stunning films. Nature’s throne rooms are thrown open by Roberts’s prose. – Colin Greenwood * The Spectator *Part odyssey, part ‘Reef Ecology 101’, Roberts’ witty and vivid descriptions of the underwater world are meshed with the most up-to-date findings, which suggest that “reefs cannot be climate-proofed and they can’t hide from climate change” – Boris Worm * Nature *Reef Life is a vibrant memoir of the joys, as well as the grind, of a research career beginning in the 1980s that has spanned a golden age of coral reef science. It is also a fine introduction to the ecology of reefs and the existential threats they now face. – Caspar Henderson * The Guardian *Compulsory reading for scuba divers and armchair divers alike * BBC Wildlife *Praise for Ocean of Life:‘Roberts is that precious pearl: a practising scientist who not only knows his field inside out, but also understands how to write compelling, persuasive non-fiction … he has trawled and plundered these experiences to craft the nearest thing we are ever likely to get to an all-encompassing manifesto for sustainable marine management’ – Leo Hickman * Guardian *I know of no other volume that treats such divergent ocean issues with this much accuracy and acumen … At the heart of this book is a deep love of the ocean and a profound concern for its viability as a resource for us all. – Stephen Palumbi * Nature *

Professor of Marine Conservation at York University, Callum Roberts is one of the world’s leading oceanographers. He was the Chief Scientific Advisor on Blue Planet 2 and writes regularly on marine issues for The Guardian. He is the author of two award-winning books, The Unnatural History of the Sea (Rachel Carson Award, 2007) and Ocean of Life (Mountbatten Award, 2013).