Trials of Life

The first Czech edition of David Attenborough's international bestseller, which also marks the conclusion of his pioneering Life trilogy.

Over 80 breathtaking photographs in four colour photo sections, the most up-to-date findings, and an excellent introduction to animal behaviour.

Behaviour is one of the most fascinating aspects of animal life. It is full of action and drama – a killer whale throws itself onto a beach to grab a seal pup; an ant finds its way across the Saharan sand dunes by the sun; a mother bat fights her way through hordes of begging babies on a cave ceiling to feed only her own young and no other.

The key to all behaviour in living things is the fundamental need to pass on their genes to the next generation. Fulfilling this is the basic purpose of an animal's existence. In doing so, all living creatures face many problems throughout their lives. And these problems are essentially the same, whether we are talking about squirrels, mice, monkeys, llamas, or lobsters.

The Trials of Life takes us through twelve key stages in the lives of all animals – arriving, growing up, finding food, hunting and escaping, finding the way, building a home, living together, fighting, meeting friends and enemies, talking to strangers, courting, and carrying on life – and shows us the diverse and often scarcely believable solutions that have evolved in different species. All of them are understandable and compelling, because our own species faces all of these trials too.

The Trials of Life is the final book in David Attenborough's pioneering natural history trilogy, Life. The first, Life on Earth, traced the evolution of animal life from its beginnings some three billion years ago to the present day, and The Living Planet focused on how plants and animals interact. In The Trials of Life, Attenborough explores how animals use their bodies and how they behave.

Sir DAVID ATTENBOROUGH (* 1926) is Britain's most famous natural history filmmaker. He graduated from Cambridge University and served for two years in the Royal Navy.

In 1952, he joined the BBC and soon began working on the Zoo Quest programme, which gave him his first opportunity to go on expeditions to remote corners of our planet. Notes from these expeditions were later published as Adventures of a Young Naturalist and Journeys to the Other Side of the World (both published in Czech in 2022).

His groundbreaking films include Life on Earth (1979, modernised book edition published in Czech in 2023), The Living Planet (1984, modernised book edition published in Czech in 2024), The Trials of Life (1990, modernised book edition published in Czech in 2026), The Private Life of Plants (1995), The Blue Planet (2001), and Life in Cold Blood (2008). In 2020, he published the successful book A Life on Our Planet (published in Czech in 2021), which was simultaneously made into a film. In recent years, The Life of Birds (published in Czech in 2024) has followed, and for the author's 99th birthday, his latest title, Ocean (to be published in Czech in 2025), was created in collaboration with Colin Butfield.

In 1985, he was knighted, becoming Sir David. He is an Honorary Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.