The second of the author's Life trilogy of books which accompanies the television series, The Living Planet. In this book the author describes how the animals and plants that inhabit the earth fit together into the living world. Travelling from the wasteland of the Arctic to the riches of the tropical rain forests, he uses each chapter to visit a different habitat and describe its own complement of plants and animals. In each habitat there are plants or animals who have become specialized in their fight to make the best use of their surroundings. This has resulted in a wide variety of animals - some that are commonplace, some that are extraordinary: fish which walk on land, snakes that fly, flightless birds that graze like deer, or bears which grow hair on the soles of their feet.