Evolutionary Writings including the Autobiographies

This unique anthology brings together a collection of Darwin's most accessible and significant writings to give the best fully rounded picture of his ideas in a single volume.

Features the key chapters from Darwin's most important books: the Journal of Researches; On the Origin of the Species; The Descent of Man; and the complete text of his autobiography.

Includes extracts from Darwin's contemporary readers from across the world to give a sense of the controversial nature of his ideas, a sense of the issues they raised, and the extraordinary range of responses across the political, religious, and scientific spectrum.

Authoritative introduction placing Darwin in both his local and global context by distinguished scholar James A. Secord.

Includes a map of the Beagle voyage, a biographical index identifying every individual mentioned in the texts, illustrations from the Journal of Researches, and a general index. Includes the full, authoritative text of Darwin's fascinating Recollections (his autobiography), edited to a consistent standard for the first time.

'Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin'

On topics ranging from intelligent design and climate change to the politics of gender and race, the evolutionary writings of Charles Darwin occupy a pivotal position in contemporary public debate. This volume brings together the key chapters of his most important and accessible books, including the Journal of Researches on the Beagle voyage (1845), the Origin of Species (1871), and the Descent of Man, along with the full text of his delightful autobiography. They are accompanied by generous selections of responses from Darwin's nineteenth-century readers from across the world. More than anything, they give a keen sense of the controversial nature of Darwin's ideas, and his position within Victorian debates about man's place in nature.