Penguins are, perhaps, the most loved of all birds, often being portrayed as caricatures of ourselves. Yet despite their popularity the many extraordinary facets of penguin life are only just being revealed. Modelled on the authors' much-praised Albatross: Their world, their ways (2008), this book is the first to comprehensively cover all of the 18 penguin species alongside the latest research into many of their more unusual adaptations, such as their deep-diving abilities. Penguins are the 'canaries in the coalmine' of the oceans, and their presence is indicatiive of a healthy marine environment. Although they are an icon of the southern hemisphere, what penguins can teach us about our changing seas is of truly global significance.