A barrage of information comes at the reader who chooses to tackle Mr Darwin’s Incredible Shrinking World. By and large it is fascinating information, but it’s also incredibly densely packed, with sections of perhaps five paragraphs covering six or seven topics with often only a sentence to bridge them. It’s exhausting reading at times and, if one takes some time out from the barrage to think, it may seem that the link to the eponymous Mr Darwin is only a tenuous one. For me, it seemed that the book only hit its stride in the final chapter when the density of information lessened and the role that Darwin had to play-besides giving potential buyers a well-known name to look at to make them pick the book up-was strengthened. By the end of the book, it became quite enjoyable, but it took a fair bit of effort to get there. For some readers this will be a bonus. Narrative, I understand, is considered a hindrance rather than a help by some, and reading a book that can at times present as a list without the bullet points, will make some readers feel that they’re empowered with lots of information in a small, handsome package.

Eliza Metcalfe is a freelance writer and editor and former assitant editor of Bookseller+Publisher

Tags: peter macinnis