The Doomsday Book of Animals

(1981)

Foreword by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

Illustrated by Tim Bramfitt, Peter Hayman, Mick Loates and Maurice Wilson.

“This beautiful book is a roll call of the dead. It describes the lives and final moments of nearly three hundred species and subspecies of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish that met their end during three centuries of human expansion, from 1680 to the present.”
This is how Faith McNulty, in the Orion Nature Quarterly, accurately describes this landmark book on animal extinction by David Day.

Reviews:

“In graphic language and imposing colour illustrations this superb large format book portrays 300 years of animal extinction at the hands of humankind.” - Detroit Free Press

“You will never have read a book like this before. There is the poignancy of it. Then, there is the horror.”
- Evening Standard

“David Day writes natural history of rare quality, and the paintings and drawings are supreme. This book is a masterpiece.” - New Scientist.

“It is ironic that a book so lovely to look at should also be so sad.”
- Book of the Year Selection, Time Magazine

“Wildlife enthusiasts will find hours of bittersweet pleasure in this encyclopaedia… makes us profoundly conscious of the rich company we have lost, while encouraging a new appreciation of what remains.”
- Christian Science Monitor

“We can heartily recommend this book for its beauty, timeliness, and excellent writing.”
- The Conservationist

“This handsome volume… is certain to remain for many years a standard reference among ecologists.”
- BioScience

Publishing History:

1981, 1983 - Ebury Press, UK; Studio Books - Viking Press / Penguin Books, U.S.A.; John Wiley, Canada. 1995-6 - Basis for LOST ANIMALS: 100 part British Channel Four and Japanese NHK TV series, written by David Day. Series eventually translated into twenty languages.