A masterpiece of biography ... a vivid account of a family at the heart of some of the great cultural shifts of the modern era John Gray, New StatesmanIn his early twenties, poor, depressed, stranded in the Coral Sea on the seemingly endless survey mission of HMS Rattlesnake, hopelessly in love with the young Englishwoman Henrietta Heathorn, Thomas Henry Huxley was a nobody. And yet together he and Henrietta would return to London and go on to found one of the great intellectual and scientific dynasties of their age.Their speciality was evolution in all its forms. But perhaps their greatest subject was themselves. Alison Bashfords engaging and original new book interweaves the Huxleys momentous public achievements with their private triumphs and tragedies. The result is the history of a family, but also a history of humanity grappling with its place in nature. This book shows how much we owe - for better or worse - to the unceasing curiosity, self-absorption and enthusiasms of a small, strange group of men and women.