Wild New World

The Epic Story of Animals and People in America

De: Dan Flores

Narrado por: Clark Cornell

In 1908, near Folsom, New Mexico, a cowboy discovered the remains of a herd of extinct giant bison. By examining flint points embedded in the bones, archeologists later determined that a band of humans had killed and butchered the animals 12,450 years ago. This discovery vastly expanded America's known human history but also revealed the long-standing danger Homo sapiens presented to the continent's evolutionary richness.

Distinguished scholar Dan Flores's ambitious history chronicles the epoch in which humans and animals have coexisted in the "wild new world" of North America—a place shaped both by its own grand evolutionary forces and by momentous arrivals from Asia, Africa, and Europe. With portraits of iconic creatures such as mammoths, horses, wolves, and bison, Flores describes the evolution and historical ecology of North America like never before.

In thrilling narrative style, informed by genomic science, evolutionary biology, and environmental history, Flores celebrates the astonishing bestiary that arose on our continent and introduces the complex human cultures and individuals who hastened its eradication, studied America's animals, and moved heaven and earth to rescue them. Eons in scope and continental in scale, Wild New World is a sweeping yet intimate Big History of the animal-human story in America.

©2022 Dan Flores (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Amazing content bad reading

This book is amazing. The content is deep and well thought out like most of dans work. Unfortunately the reader is awful in his pronunciation of many words and does not give this book the enthusiasm it deserves. I wouldn’t let the reader push you away from this title but it is a let down knowing how hard Dan worked on this book.

Amazing book, poor narration

This is an incredible book, but I’m having a very hard time listening to the narrator. I just can’t take him seriously. He sounds like someone reading a scientific book while sarcastically impersonating a nerd. The accents are awful, and there are lots of weird mispronunciations of common and simple words.

Can’t decide if story is worth narrator

Sounds like a robot is typing off. Very disappointing after hearing an interview from writer.

Terrifying and motivating in the same moment!

I had no idea that us folks from the old world murdered thousands of animals along with thousands of indigenous peoples when we came to the americas and supposedly civilized it. What can be less civilized than the bloodlust of Europeans? I mourn both the extinction of several species that created and lived in the ‘American Serengeti’ and the irreversible damage we have done to this continent.
Bloodlust is the disease most likely to bring the human race to extinction. We see it everyday here in America where mostly diseased males roam the country massacring unsuspecting humans and animals with their AK47s. We unfortunately somehow believe the dollar is more important than life itself. Listening to chapter 8 was excruciating! Personally I re- vow to my predominately vegetarian diet and belief that taking or killing more than one needs in the moment is the deadliest of sins. We share the same amount of genes, approximately 98%, with the peace loving, primarily vegetarian matriarchal bonobo and the violent meat eating male dominating chimpanzee. Which one do you want to be?

Amazing

The book provides great information and is great for learning the past of North America, would recommend

Facts are dubious

The book was very interesting and but I am well aware of the Roosevelt safari in Africa after his presidency and the numbers of fauna killed the author puts on TR are preposterous and inaccurate. I also was displeased at the political narrative as a political conservative I deeply care about our environment and the flora and fauna who inhabit our precious planet. You can deeply care about those things and be a Republican. I have observed liberals destroy our cities but I don’t pigeonhole them all into the same boat.

Sad but necessary accounting of how Europeans ruined the New World

He does cover earlier peoples as well but the most upsetting parts are accounts of what old world Europeans did to native peoples and their flora and fauna/ small issue- latest news reports and science point to Covid as escaping from the Woo Hand lab but other than this it’s a sad but thorough account of all the damage we did. The narrator is the worst. I’ve ever heard. Not sure why Dan didn’t narrate his own book….

Swing and miss with narrator

Anyone who has listened to Dan Flores speak will agree that not having him narrate is a huge disservice. This guy is a mix between a wedding DJ and computer generated AI interpreter. Horrible flow. I feel like I’m listening to recorded audio while an escalator is taking through a museum and my wife is nudging me to stay awake.

wonderful book, great narration

The book is 5/5 already. I want to make excerpts of it required reading for my biology class. The narration is very good. Pronunciation sometimes feel slightly stilted but that might be the speed at which I listen (1.25). Very happy.

Disappointing

This latest by Dan Flores started off as a wonderful work. Information on the Chicxulub event that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs, and the rise of mammals through the megafauna of the Pleistocene was incredible writing. Flores detailing on Clovis and Folsom paleo cultures was equally great. I enjoyed the first part of the book.

The low overall rating comes from Mr. Flores pointing out the flaws of 19th century and earlier society regarding stewardship of animal life. Writing on historical topics calls for objectivity. It's easy to say what they did wrong; nothing like a Monday morning quarterback. Does Mr. Flores really think that he needed to inform the reader that the wholesale slaughter of the Bison was a supremely bad idea? Maybe he has to include a woke homage for academia to give his a gold star.

The narrator had a terrible voice.