Bibliotheca Herpetologica 16(3)

Maynard, R. J. 2022.  Book Review. On the Backs of Tortoises: Darwin, the Galápagos, and the Fate of an Evolutionary Eden. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 16(3):33–36. Published March 17, 2022.   “Struggles over conservation are not between those who destroy and those who conserve nature…, but among populations who understand the value of nature very differently.” (p. 211) Elizabeth Hennessy’s book, On the Backs of Tortoises: Darwin, the Galápagos, and the Fate of an Evolutionary Eden, is an engaging and well-researched book that recounts the complex human history on the Galápagos archipelago through the backdrop of giant tortoise exploitation over the past five centuries.