The cover image was taken by photographer Matt Roberts who at the time of the 'black summer' was working for ABC in Australia. The image is appropriately abundant in meaning. First, the road. Roads are obviously emblematic of the climate crisis, and cars kill so many individual animals and species (including humans). Roads/cars equate to how anthropocentrism is bound up in capitalist development. A road running through a forest speaks to violence and dualism. Second, the incursion of the fallen tree and the sheep ungulate onto the road infers civilisational collapse. The scene is all round apocalyptic with the ‘fog’ of the wildfire. Third, the sheep ungulate. If you look closely there is a jeep coming head on in the direction that the animal is going. Their fate is unknown. It was important to have a ‘farmed’ animal on the cover, and not a ‘wild’ one for the obvious reason of making the link between animal agriculture and the climate crisis. I think the image also makes clear the tragic vulnerability of nonhuman animals in the face of anthropogenic climate change. In the book introduction I speak of the bewilderment of animals as climate starts to break down and the image captures this. Finally, the image reminds us that the climate crisis is already here and playing out in terms of many lives lost.

All royalties to be donated to relevant causes - update! -
During 2025 royalties were donated to both Medecins Sans Frontiers and The Vegan Land Movement