The following is a chronological list of books written or co-written by Sir David Attenborough. Spanning much of his career, these works range from accounts of his early expeditions to volumes accompanying his landmark natural history programmes, as well as memoirs reflecting on his life and career.
Main author or significant contributor
Zoo Quest Books - Zoo Quest to Guiana, Lutterworth (Cambridge, England), 1956, Crowell, 1957, abridged edition, University of London Press (London, England), 1962. aka 'Animal safari to British Guiana Englishmen Hunt Wildlife for B.B.C. Television and the London Zoo Amid Indian Tribes of Tropical South America' Zoo Quest Books - Zoo Quest for a Dragon (1957) - republished in 1959 to include an additional 85 pages from Quest for the Paradise Birds Zoo Quest Books - Zoo Quest in Paraguay (1959) Zoo Quest Books - Quest in Paradise (1960) - an accompaniment to the TV series The People of Paradise and Quest for the Paradise Birds People of Paradise (1960) Zoo Quest Books - Zoo Quest to Madagascar, Lutterworth (Cambridge, England), 1961, published as Bridge to the Past: Animals and People of Madagascar, Harper (New York, NY), 1962 Zoo Quest Books - Quest Under Capricorn (1963) My Favourite Stories of Exploration (by various authors). Edited by Attenborough with drawings by Mike Charlton (1964) The World's Wild Places, a Time-Life series volume on Borneo published in 1970, contained a chapter by Attenborough entitled 'Up Mt Kinabalu' Fabulous Animals (1975) - (With Molly Cox) BBC Publications The Tribal Eye (1976), Norton (New York, NY) Deserts and Grasslands: The World's Open Spaces (1980) - by Attenborough (Author), Eric 'John Cloudsley-Thompson' and Duffey (Author) Life on Earth: A Natural History, BBC Publications (London, England), 1979, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1980. + Life on Earth: Reader's Digest Augmented and Enlarged Edition, based on original Collins / BBC edition Discovering Life on Earth (1981), Collins Tribal Encounters: An Exhibition of Ethnic Objects Collected by David Attenborough (exhibition catalog), Leicester Museums, Art Galleries, and Records Service, 1981 Happiness (1980 Baggs Memorial Lecture), University of Birmingham (Birmingham, England), 1981 Journeys to the Past: Travels in New Guinea, Madagascar, and the Northern Territory of Australia, Lutterworth (Cambridge, England), 1981 The Zoo Quest Expeditions: Travels in Guyana, Indonesia, and Paraguay(contains Zoo Quest to Guiana, Zoo Quest for a Dragon, and Zoo Quest in Paraguay), Penguin (New York, NY), 1982 The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1984 Animal Stories: Tame and Wild (1985) - Michener, James A., Herriot, James, Morris, Desmond, Cousteau, Phillippe, Attenborough (Chapter 'The Komodo Dragon') The First Eden: The Mediterranean World and Man (1987) aka Birth of paradise - Illustrated story Mediterranean (1997) (Japanese Import) Our World's Heritage (1987) - Javier Perez; Attenborough; Hawkes, Jacquetta; et al. de Cuellar - Publisher. National Geographic Society The Trials of Life (1990), Publisher: Collins / BBC Books The Private Life of Plants: A Natural History of Plant Behaviour (1994) Heart of a Nomad Wilfred Thesiger in Conversation with David Attenborough Paperback – 1994 The Life of Birds (1998) The Life of Mammals (2002) Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster (2002) - autobiography, revised in 2009David Attenborough, Life on Air, BBC Books, 2002 Life in the Undergrowth (2005) Light On The Earth (Wildlife Photographer of the Year) Hardcover, 2005 - Attenborough (Author) Amazing Rare Things: The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery (2007) - by Attenborough (Author), Martin Clayton (Author), Rea Alexandratos (Author), Susan Owens (Author) Life in Cold Blood (2007) David Attenborough's Life Stories (2009) David Attenborough's First Life: A Journey Back in Time With Matt Kaplan (2010) David Attenborough's New Life Stories (2011) aka Life Stories 2 Nature Tales: Encounters with Britain's Wildlife (2011) - by Michael Allen (Author), Attenborough (Author), Sonya Patel Ellis (Author) Drawn From Paradise: The Discovery, Art and Natural History of the Birds of Paradise (2012) - by Attenborough (Author), Errol Fuller (Author) David Attenborough's Why Do Birds of Paradise Dance (2012) - Attenborough, Errol Fuller Does My Goldfish Know Who I Am?: And Hundreds More Big Questions from Little People Answered by Experts (2013) - Harris, Gemma Elwin, Knapman, Timothy, Attenborough (Contributor) Why Can't I Tickle Myself?: Big Questions From Little People . . . Answered By Some Very Big People (2013) - Gemma Elwin Harris (Author), Bear Grylls (Contributor), Miranda Hart (Contributor), Attenborough (Contributor) Information Age: Six Networks that Changed Our World (2014) - Tilly Blyth (Editor), Attenborough (Contributor) Adventures of a Young Naturalist: The Zoo Quest Expeditions (2017) Journeys to the Other Side of the World: Further Adventures of a Young Naturalist (2018) Life on Earth 40th Anniversary Edition (2018) Beastly Journeys: Unusual Tales of Travel with Animals (2018) - Dervla Murphy, Attenborough, Jonathan Scott, Gerald Durrell, Mark Shand A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future (2020) Living Planet: The Web of Life on Earth A new, fully updated edition of Attenborough's seminal portrait of life on Earth (2021) - Attenborough (Author) Earthshot: How to Save Our Planet (2022) - by Colin Butfield (Author), Jonnie Hughes (Author), HRH Prince William (Introduction), Attenborough (Contributor) and Shakira The Earthshot Prize: A Handbook for Dreamers and Thinkers: Solutions to Repair our Planet (2023) - by Colin Butfield (Author), Jonnie Hughes (Author), HRH Prince William (Introduction), Attenborough (Contributor) Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness (2025) - by Colin Butfield (Author) Attenborough (Contributor)
Editor
New Generation Guide to the birds of Britain and Europe, (Corrie Herring Hooks Series), (1987) - by Christopher Perrins (Author), Attenborough (General Editor), Collins, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX) New Generation Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe (1987) - Alastair Fitter, Attenborough (General Editor), Collins, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX) New Generation Guide to the Butterflies and Day-flying Moths of Britain and Europe, 1989 - Michael Chinery, Edited by Attenborough, Illustrated by Brian Hargreaves / University of Texas Press New Generation Guide to the Fungi of Britain and Europe (1989) (Corrie Herring Hooks Series) (Collins New Guides) - Stefan Buczacki (Author), John Wilkinson (Illustrator), Attenborough (General Editor), Collins, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX) The Atlas of the Living World (Marshall Pictorial Atlas S.) (1997), Philip Whitfield (Author), Peter D. Moore (Author), Barry Cox (Author), Attenborough (Editor)
Foreword, preface and introduction provided to
Benjamin the 'Zoo Quest' bear - 1957, Charles Lagus (Author), Introduction by Attenborough Thorburn's mammals; with an introduction by Attenborough (1974) Worlds Apart: Nature in Cities and Islands (1976) - Burton, John Andrew and Sparks, John. Attenborough (foreword) Spirit of Asia (1980), Author Michael Macintyre, Introduction by Attenborough Nature Conservation Why and How (1980) - Andrew Ruck (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) To the Farthest Ends of the Earth: 150 Years of World Exploration by the Royal Geographical Society (1980) - Ian Cameron (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Focus on Nature(1981) - With a foreword by Attenborough, Gerald Thompson, George Bernard, John Cooke (Author) True to Nature: Christopher Parsons looks back on 25 years of wildlife filming with the BBC Natural History Unit (1982) by Christopher Parsons, Attenborough (Foreword) Survival: South Atlantic, 1983 - Cindy Buxton (Author), Annie Price (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Wildlife through the Camera, by British Broadcasting Corporation, 1982 - Author of introduction. Parkwest Publications (Jersey City, NJ), 1985 Andrew Langley, The Making of "The Living Planet," Little Brown (Boston, MA), 1985 - Attenborough (Foreword) The Oxford Dictionary of Natural History (1986) - Allaby, Michael (Editor); Attenborough (Foreword) The Encyclopedia of World Wildlife, by Mark Carwardine, Attenborough (Foreword) (Octopus Publishing, 1986) ISBN 0-7064-2437-9 Digging Dinosaurs: The Search That Unraveled the Mystery of Baby Dinosaurs (1988) - John R. Horner; James Gorman; Attenborough (Foreword) Select specimens from nature of the birds, animals &c. 1813 (with commentary by Tim Bonyhady), 1988 - Thomas Skottowe (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Richard Browne (Illustrator), Tim Bonyhady (Editor) The Last Rain Forests Hardcover (1990) - by Mark Collins (Editor), Attenborough (Introduction) Tomorrow Is Too Late - A Celebration of Our Wildlife Heritage (1990) - Attenborough (Introduction), HRH King Charles III (Foreword) Green Inheritance: World Wild Life Fund Book of Plants (1991), Anthony Huxley (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Peter Scott: Painter and Naturalist (1994), Elspeth Huxley (Author), Attenborough (Introduction) Wildlife Photographer of the Year (1994) - Helen Gilks (Herausgeber), Peter Wilkinson (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Visions of a Rainforest: Year in Australia's Tropical Rainforest (1997) by Stanley Breeden (Author), Stanley Greeden (Author), William T. Cooper (Illustrator), Attenborough (Foreword) Wild Fruit by Snowdon (1997), Earl of Antony Armstrong - Jones Snowdon (Author), Penny David (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Wildlife Specials (1998) - BBC Natural History Unit (Author), Keith Scholey (Editor), Attenborough (Foreword) Gabriele Koch (Ceramics Art Monographs) (1998) - Gabriele Koch (Author), Attenborough (Introduction) Richtersveld: The Enchanted Wilderness (2000) - by Graham Williamson (Photographer, Author, Illustrator), Attenborough (Foreword) The Butterflies of Hampshire (2000) - Oates, Matthew, John Taverner, David Green, Attenborough (Foreword) Travels with the Fossil Hunters (2000) - edited by Peter J. Whybrow, Attenborough (Foreword) Australia's Lost World (Life of the Past co-published with New Holland Publishers Pty. Ltd) (2000) - by Michael Archer (Author), Suzanne Hand (Author), Henk Godthelp (Author), Suzanne J Hand (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) The Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans (2001) - Andrew Byatt, Alastair Fothergill, Martha Holmes, Attenborough (Foreword) Dancing Out of Bali (Periplus Classics Series) (2004) - by John Coast (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) William Hodges 1744–1797: The Art of Exploration, 2004 - Professor Geoff Quilley (Editor), Foreword by Attenborough Planet Earth - As You're Never Seen It Before (2006) - By Alastair Fothergill, Attenborough (Foreword) Grace Wyndham Goldie, First Lady of Television (2006) - John Grist (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Wild Borneo: The Wildlife and Scenery of Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan (2006) - by Nick Garbutt (Author, Photographer), J. Cede Prudente (Photographer), Attenborough (Preface) Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin (2008) - Edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Samantha Evans, and Alison M. Pearn. Foreword by Attenborough Of a Feather: Avian Collective Nouns & Terms of Assembly, Group Names & Associated Terms(2008) - Written, compiled, designed and illustrated with wood engravings by Colin See - Paynton, Attenborough (Foreword) Gabriele Koch - Hand Building and Smoke Firing (2009) - Tony Birks (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Story of Silbury Hill (2010) - Jim Leary(Author), David Field (Author), Attenborough (Foreword) Silent Summer (2010) - Norman MacLean (Editor) & Attenborough (Foreword) Ernest Thompson Seton: The Life and Legacy of an Artist and Conservationist (2010) - by David L. Witt (Author), Attenborough (Foreword)