Hidden Creatures: Luscious Leeches, Bashful Botflies, and the Wondrous, History-Shaping World of Parasites
Language: English
Published by Knopf, 2026
- First Edition
- Signed
- Hardcover
- New
Seller: Haley Booksellers, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.Haley Booksellers
AbeBooks seller since August 15, 2025
Condition: New
£ 53.90
Quantity: 2 available
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HIDDEN CREATURES by Dino Martins (2026) BRAND NEW SIGNED 1ST EDITION 1ST PRINTING UNREAD HARDCOVER. NOT Price Clipped ($30).NOT a remainder or book club edition. Stated First Printing. This Signed Collectable Book will be Wrapped & Boxed.
Seller Inventory # 491
- Title
- Hidden Creatures: Luscious Leeches, Bashful Botflies, and the Wondrous, History-Shaping World of Parasites
- Author
- Martins, Dino
- Publisher
- Knopf
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- New
- Dust jacket
- New
- Signed
- Signed by Author(s)
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 059380466X
- ISBN 13
- 9780593804667
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Printing
- 1st Printing
- Item weight
- 499 grams
- Dimensions
- 16.26 centimeters width by 24.16 centimeters height by 2.95 centimeters depth
“May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard” is the oldest sentence ever written using an alphabet. Inscribed onto an ivory comb from an archaeological site in Tel Lachish, west of Hebron in central Israel, this remarkable find dates from four thousand years ago.
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When we think of parasites, we might think of terrifying tiny creatures who suck blood and steal food, and that’s definitely a part of what these mysterious organisms are—but, as Martins shows, it’s only a part. From the tapeworm, which can grow a remarkable 120 feet in length within the gut of a whale, to the tsetse fly, a notorious vector of disease that can pierce the skin even of crocodiles with its vicious, needle-like mouth, to perhaps the most universal symbol of parasitic behavior in our language, the much-mythologized leech, all parasites make a living by exploiting other living things.
In each chapter, Martins takes us through gaping geological time to explain the history of a particular parasite’s evolution and its interactions with humans and animals alike. This is a journey across the world ten times over—from Nairobi to New York, East Africa to the Amazon, Borneo to London public parks—and to the outer reaches of the animal kingdom. Along the way, we meet the brilliant and eccentric experts who join Martins on his adventures and encounter not only parasites but their incredible variety of hosts, from hyraxes and hippos to, of course, the elusive human.
Throughout history, parasites have been used to cure disease, seen as delicious delicacies, and feared among the most dangerous banes of existence. But there is much to learn about these critters yet, and Martins is just the person to take on the task. Immersive, entertaining, driven by a curiosity that’s utterly (wait for it) infectious, Hidden Creatures has the magnetic force of a David Attenborough documentary and never ceases to surprise.
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Haley Booksellers
Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since August 15, 2025
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Haley Booksellers
MA, U.S.A.
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