Book Review- The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History 

This environmental book named, The Sixth Extinction – An Unnatural History is a 2014 non-fiction book written by Elizabeth Kolbert and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was widely acclaimed & subsequently its’ author received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for the book in 2015.

The mankind has witnessed 5 mass extinction events and the author points out to oncoming / ensuing 6th mass extinction. This event is man made as many species & ecologies are already extinct / near extinction. This has disturbed the ecological cycle thus a 6th mass extinction is on its way. Rather we are rapidly striding towards this calamity. 

The author has carried out extensive research and travelled to remote areas and carried out interviews with many guides, researchers & scientists. The theme of 6th mass extinction is applied to the flora & fauna of various habitats and it estimates that by the year 2100, the mankind will loose 20-50 percent of flora & fauna.

This book is divided into 13 chapters. The author introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

Bill Gates has named the book to his 2014 Summer Reading List.

In my view, I agree with the author that we are accelerating our own extinction. How the humans will survive if half of the species around us is gone. We must take all efforts in order to mitigate this ensuing crisis. This problem has risen many folds in last 20-30 years. The situation has never been so grim. But there is hope & we all are confident of arresting this crisis in our lifetimes.

Overall this book is a good read.

Full Text of the Book for personal use may be obtained on-line easily. 

The author discusses her book in the You tube video:

This video explains 5 previous extinctions.