"Charles Darwin's masterpiece, The Origin of Species, is probably the best-known, least-read book. Unquestionably one of the most important achievements of the millennium, the book caused a sensation when it was published in 1859, because it forced mankind to see itself as part of the animal world - a notion that hundreds of millions still deny.

Writing as "Darwin's ghost," the well-known geneticist Steve Jones has drawn on our ever-expanding scientific knowledge and the brilliant logic set out in The Origin to restate evolution's case for the twenty-first century." "Using contemporary examples - the AIDS virus, the rules of the American Kennel Club, the sheep who never forget a face and the garbage that floats in the Pacific - he shows the power and immediacy of Darwin's great argument."--BOOK JACKET.