"The beautiful illustrations and accessible text make this an excellent introduction to evolution and paleontology." -- Booklist

This book tells the complete story of evolution from the beginning of time to the present, as revealed in the Cradle of Humankind and the Magaliesberg Biosphere: a chronology of episodes experienced in the region over geological and historic time. All the main phenomena in the Cradle region are presented and described by name and time period, giving detailed explanations: how they were discovered, when and by whom, their significance in the bigger picture, where examples can be found and seen in or around the Cradle, and further reading on the phenomena. The book is supported throughout with maps, timeline charts and multiple photographs and illustrations. In addition, there are six 'interludes' - important topics that don't fit the chronology but are useful to our greater understanding of events, as well as text boxes giving short factual accounts relevant to the story. Beautifully presented and richly illustrated, this is the definitive guide to the Cradle of Life as we know it today.