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Worth catching in paperback are Tim Flannery’s The Future Eaters (Secker
& Warburg, £12.99, ISBN 0 436 20351 0) and Colin Tudge’s The Day
Before Yesterday (Pimlico, £9.99, ISBN 0 7126 6173 5). Both tell the tale
of human beings in the distant past, both inquire into the consequences of human
activities as they shaped the world—by fire or by hunting. Tudge reaches
far into the past and considers the world his canvas, while Flannery
concentrates on the narrower picture of colonisation of Australasia. Both share
a grim message of the poor outlook for future generations as resources are
consumed by past and present peoples.