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Togetherness
- Author
- Rowan Hooper
- Narrator
- Rowan Hooper
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 4 June 2026
- Run Time
- 9 hours 54 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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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
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Stunning . . . My review copy of Togetherness is now peppered with marginal annotations of 'Wow!'
Guardian
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[An] eye-opening book
Observer
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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
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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
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[An] important new book
Financial Times
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Absolutely enthralling. I was hooked from the first sentence
Bill Bryson
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This beautifully written and meticulously researched book makes a vivid and powerful case for symbiotic co-operation in evolution
Richard Dawkins
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Pure magic
Caitlin Moran
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Tremendous – a panorama, or cyclorama, or cosmorama of life
Philip Pullman
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Togetherness is a book of revelation that alters perception: witty, urgent, companionable and deeply alive to the strangeness of the world
Times Literary Supplement
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Rowan Hooper
- Narrator
- Rowan Hooper
- Duration
- 9 hours 54 minutes
- Release Date
- 4 June 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529941166
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Popular science, Nature and the natural world: general interest, Evolution / Evolutionary biology
Synopsis
An awe-inspiring exploration of how symbiosis can change the way we understand our world, ourselves and our futureFrom 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
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