Reader’s Digest certainly knows how to create a book. The Illustrated Atlas of Wildlife is a truly beautiful journey around the world. It is packed with facts about the evolution, life cycle, habitat and conservation of the most charismatic species, from the Antarctic’s emperor penguin, capable of 500-metre-deep dives to the Northern European male moose which splashes urine-soaked mud above his jaws to attract females and the Indian Ocean’s grotesque-looking ancient fish, the coelacanth.

Authored by a team of international wildlife experts, the book explores each continent and ocean with maps of the different habitat zones. Highlights include a timeline of evolutionary events from the Archaean and Proterozoic Eras, a map of bird migration flyways and even a map of the world’s most threatened wildlife. Beware avid animal experts, though, in covering so much, some creatures are only superficially acknowledged.

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