Anthill – A Novel - Softcover

The savage conflicts between the Trailhead and Waterside colonies are as dramatic as any epic of Herodotus or Thucydides, histories Wilson evokes in his characterization of the tiny warriors as myrmidons and hoplites.--Harvey Freedenberg

[A] beautifully written coming-of-age novel about a young boy in Alabama. The highly respected author and entomologist may be sneaking some science down the throats of self-respecting fiction readers everywhere with the tale of a boy-turned-environmental lawyer who tries to save wildlife, but we hardly mind.

[Wilson smuggles] gems of empirical knowledge across the literary border to create fiction with unusually rewarding heft.--Barbara Kingsolver

Part epic-inspired adventure story, part philosophy-of-life, part many-layered mid-century Alabama viewed in finely observed detail, part ant life up close, part lyrical hymn to the wonders of earth...yes, all of these.--Margaret Atwood

Wilson's foray into fiction allows him to write more expressively, psychologically, even spiritually about the great web of life, humankind included, and the irrefutable rules for ecological survival...A teacher as well as a scientist, Wilson uses the prism of fiction to cast new light on the grand unifying lesson of nature: all of us earthlings, all of life's astonishing creations, thrive or fail together.--Donna Seaman

Lush with organic details, Wilson's keen eye for the natural world and his acumen for environmental science is on brilliant display in this multifaceted story about human life and its connection to nature.

It's slightly mysterious how E. O. Wilson manages to combine so many different talents in one person--from close observation to grand theorizing to deep compassion to well-paced, lively writing. (If he were actually an ant, he'd be the warrior and the drone and the queen and everyone else too.) This novel will remind people of all his gifts and introduce them to some new ones!--Bill McKibben, author of Radio Free Vermont

Advance Praise for Anthill

"Thick with the spell of nature, Anthill is a powerful tale of ant empires and a boy determined to save them."--Diane Ackerman, author of The Zookeeper's Wife
Praise for Edward O. Wilson

"Wilson speaks with a humane eloquence which calls to us all."--Oliver Sacks

"His style is gracious and lucid, the example of his life greatly inspiring."--Barry Lopez

"Wilson is a writer of enthralling importance for our place in time."--Edward Hoagland, Los Angeles Times

"There's a new Darwin. His name is Edward O. Wilson."--Tom Wolfe