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Togetherness

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What to expect

An awe-inspiring exploration of how symbiosis can change the way we understand our world, ourselves and our future

From evolution to capitalism, ‘survival of the fittest’ has shaped our view of the world. But we got it wrong – and our mistake has brought us to the brink.

For the history of life on Earth is much more than a story of competition. The natural world has been forged and sustained by small miracles of co-operation between animals and plants, insects and fungi, fish and bacteria – these partnerships are ubiquitous, lifelong and an essential guide for a better future.

In Togetherness, Rowan Hooper reveals the intimate connectedness of nature through these remarkable stories of symbiosis. From the female wasp venturing deep inside a fig and the intricate relationship between corals and the algae that sustain them to the symbiotic gut microbes that influence our moods, he explores how co-operation is fundamental to life itself and to protecting our shared future.

Togetherness will change the way you see the world, our place in it and our obligation to its hidden wonders.

'Absolutely enthralling' BILL BRYSON

'A joyful book, of hope and wonder, which celebrates community as the true key to success in nature' STEVE BRUSATTE

© Rowan Hooper 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

Stunning . . . My review copy of Togetherness is now peppered with marginal annotations of 'Wow!'
Guardian
[An] eye-opening book
Observer
Hooper proves an eloquent advocate for his ideas. Symbiosis, he argues, ‘is fundamental to how life began, how it evolved, and how it operates’
Mail on Sunday
The best books are those that give you a new perspective, but Togetherness . . . has given me something more than that – not just a new view, but a new way of seeing . . . Togetherness manages to be both hugely ambitious in scope and also very enjoyable
New Scientist
[An] important new book
Financial Times
Absolutely enthralling. I was hooked from the first sentence
Bill Bryson
This beautifully written and meticulously researched book makes a vivid and powerful case for symbiotic co-operation in evolution
Richard Dawkins
Pure magic
Caitlin Moran
Tremendous – a panorama, or cyclorama, or cosmorama of life
Philip Pullman
This book reshapes our ideas about science, nature and ourselves. The revelations in this book made me rethink the world'
Chris Packham
Author Rowan Hooper
Narrator Rowan Hooper
Duration 9 hours and 54 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781529941166
Format Audiobook
Publisher Random House
Genre Evolution, Nature and the natural world: general interest, Popular science
Availability AU, GB, IE

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