A natural storyteller

To mark the 40th anniversary of David Attenborough's influential book, Life on Earth, a revised and updated edition has been translated for Chinese readers, Li Yingxue reports.

In 1979, BBC's nature documentary Life on Earth showed an unforgettable encounter between the doyen of wildlife broadcasting, David Attenborough, and a troop of Rwandan mountain gorillas. It became an iconic moment for millions of television viewers.

The documentary and the accompanying book fundamentally changed people's view of, and interaction with, the natural world, as well as helping to cultivate a generation of nature lovers.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the book's publication, Attenborough has produced a revised version of Life on Earth, updating and adding to the original text, as well as taking into account the latest science and global discoveries that have further illuminated and amplified the history of nature.

He also selected new, beautiful photography to better illustrate the book. "We would try to survey the whole animal kingdom and consider each great group of animals in the light of the part it has played in the long drama of life from its beginnings until today," the author writes.