"Evolution from an intersex ancestor? What a wondrous Darwinian idea! In this electrifying book, Ross Books helps us see the canon of natural history as queer from the very beginning. Sharp, clever, and as replete with evolutionary diversity as a history of biology could possibly be."--Alison Bashford, author of An Intimate History of Evolution " Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life is an invigorating read pulsing with queer life. As politically essential as it is compelling, it's a rich counterhistory of biology which shows us how scientists always knew queerness was natural and nature was queer."--Kit Heyam, author of Before We Were Trans "Ross Brooks' smart new book is as fun to read as it is useful for rebutting all the bad takes on sexuality and gender that clog contemporary discourse. He has a delightfully 'queer eye for the hermaphrodite guys' of life's evolutionary history, and more than a few arch words for Darwin and other biologists who've straightjacketed an abundance of animate forms into an unnatural binary."--Susan Stryker, author of Changing Gender "Everything you need to know about sex and evolution, but were too indoctrinated by the cisheteropatriarchy to know to ask."--Subhadra Das, author of Uncivilised "From Linnaeus to Darwin, Brooks brilliantly shows us how biology always has, and will always be, delightfully queer.

A much-needed account of the queer history of natural history."--Josh Luke Davis, author of A Little Gay Natural History "Few know of Darwin's fascination with the queer biology of sex. This compelling, insightful, and original narrative illustrates Darwin's (and others') contributions and hesitancies in the enabling and restricting of queer evolutionary analyses."--Agustín Fuentes, author of Sex is a Spectrum.