Works

The Deluge and the Ark: A Journey into Primate Worlds

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989

In 1984, I decided I would focus on I had always cared about: animals. What kind of animal? Primates seemed interesting. I didn’t actually know what a primate was, so the book is partly the record of my finding out, also of my discovering why the world’s primates (some two to three hundred different species of monkeys, apes, and promisians) are being wiped out by human expansion. I traveled around the world to find the world’s dozen most endangered primate species in their tropical forest homes, which means the book is also a narrative of adventure and travel. The Deluge and the Ark was short-listed in Britain for the Sir Peter Kent Conservation Book Prize.

Praise for The Deluge and the Ark: A Journey into Primate Worlds:

“The Deluge and the Ark is almost as rich and diverse as the rain forest itself. Mr. Peterson has written an important book that is also a pleasure to read.” —Wall Street Journal
“The ‘Walden’ of a man who journeyed around the world to obtain a firsthand look at 12 threatened primate species… An account whose literary merit almost rivals its value as a compendium of disturbing information.” —Washington Post Book World
“Peterson makes an irresistible guide, whether stalking the colobus monkey, explaining the threats to its survival or evoking the sound of the Amazon jungle.” —Newsweek
“A fascinating and disturbing combination of travelogue and ecological warning… Peterson proves himself a gifted and generous writer. In his lucid protrait of the fragile ecosystems that sustain us, he offers a valuable contribution to the debate on how we’ll save ourselves from destroying this planet.” —San Francisco Chronicle