A book filled with detailed and fascinating history of science, that seems a little confused as to what it is.
Ostensibly, the book is about how our idea of evolution and the tree of life as imagined by Darwin and others is not completely correct. How in many ways it is radically different, and more of a tangled web. Due in part to horizontal gene transfer that can take place even between kingdoms of life.
The story of how we came to think of evolution, and trees, is carefully sketched out including many interesting biographical details of the key scientists. Wow watch out for the Russian pedophile!
Later we are introduced to the various teams and people that would revolutionise the field during the latter parts of the last century. Though it is here we encounter the main issue with the book. There is a huge focus on a single scientist - so much so that this reads like an actual biography of Carl Woese in many parts. I see no reason why he takes so much of the page space, important though his techniques and discoveries clearly were.
Later chapters consider some mind blowing current science. Explaining major portions of our genome come from, or via, viral or bacterial sources - as well as some of their essential uses! Shorter sections explore what this may mean going forwards.
The writing is excellent, and aimed at people with some scientific understanding, but he is humorous when confronted with many of the crimes against natural language science commits and clear with simplified explanations.
A final point I would like to make, the constant references to Nobel prizes won or not won. Not only this authors fault, but they should not be viewed as the be all and end all of science (or writing). Unbelievably overstated prize in many people's minds. We should have better ones!