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Togetherness

Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life’s Greatest Collaborations
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Togetherness

By: Rowan Hooper
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Pre-order for $42.54

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

An awe-inspiring and mind-altering exploration of how symbiosis can change the way we understand our world, ourselves and our future

From evolution to capitalism, ‘survival of the fittest’ has shaped our view of the world. But we got it wrong – and our mistake has brought us to the brink.

For the history of life on Earth is much more than a story of competition. The natural world has been forged and sustained by small miracles of co-operation between animals and plants, insects and fungi, fish and bacteria – these partnerships are ubiquitous, lifelong and are an essential guide for a better future.

In Togetherness, Rowan Hooper reveals the intimate connectedness of nature through these remarkable stories of symbiosis. From the female wasp venturing deep inside a fig and the intricate relationship between corals and the algae that sustain them to the symbiotic gut microbes that influence our moods, he explores how co-operation is fundamental to life itself and to protecting our shared future.

Togetherness will change the way you see the world, our place in it – and our obligation to its hidden wonders.

© Rowan Hooper 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Biological Sciences Biology Ecology Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Sociology

Critic Reviews

Absolutely enthralling. I was hooked from the first sentence (Bill Bryson)
A clarion call for cooperation at a time when competition, chaos and cruelty seem to rule the day . . . This is a joyful book, of hope and wonder, which celebrates community as the true key to success in nature (Steve Brusatte)
Togetherness is the most important book I’ve read for years. Richly layered, thrilling, intellectually wide-ranging and so fascinating with evocative imagery and warm prose which brings the science and the world to vivid life and offers a crucial and urgent intervention on our mistaken and inadequate understanding of life and its entangled, enmeshed, webby, netty, symbiotic togetherness . . . Utterly stunning and awe-inspiring. Everyone needs to read this book, now! (Lucy Jones)
I think this may be one of those rare books that's a classic upon its publication. It calmly and comprehensively helps you see the world in a very new and hopeful way, and I think the insights apply to our social and political life. We were, all of us, built for contact (Bill McKibben)
An awe-inspiring journey . . . An exposé of our unbreakable connections with all life on Earth (Alex Antonelli)
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