The First Eden: The Mediterranean World and Man

240 pp. "Five and a half million years ago, the waters of the Atlantic flooded across an isthmus joining Morocco and Spain and into a vast trench in the earth's crust. The resulting cataract plunged for a century or so over a cliff many miles long and fifty times higher than Niagara, until at last the basin was filled and the Mediterranean Sea had been born. ...explores the history and current state of this fascinating region, which became the cradle of civilization. ...David Attenborough not only describes the natural history of the Mediterranean, but also tells the fascinating story of mankind's changing attitudes toward and relationship with the natural world."