Writer and journalist Andy Turnbull is the author of books, news articles, short stories and essays combining humor, research and insightful analysis. Most of his books are iconoclastic critiques of conventional wisdom.

In the current book, Turnbull challenges accepted notions about how human civilization developed. Most species survive for half a million years, while humanity is already about one million years old. We survive because we cooperate, he says.

However, ants and termites have been around for at least 100 times longer. Should we act more like them, or have we gone too far already?

Andy Turnbull takes our notions about early humanity and turns them on their heads. In place of the "savannah" model of civilization, he posits a waterfront existence, noting that even today the vast majority of humans live near a body of water....

Andy Turnbull takes our notions about early humanity and turns them on their heads. In place of the "savannah" model of civilization, he posits a waterfront existence, noting that even today the vast majority of humans live near a body of water. He goes on to describe the social structures of some of Earth's most successful creatures, those which have been around for 100 times longer than humans, and he tracks the steps humanity is taking toward that type of society. The models he cites are in the insect world;�termites, bees and ants;�and they don;¢t allow much room for individual liberty or creativity. Is that the way of humanity's future? Like it or not, believe it or not, the Industrial Revolution, the Women's Movement, corporate and media propaganda and other modern trends seem to be moving us in that direction. Tantalizing and at times shocking, Turnbull's examples and data give an idea what kind of world this is leading us to. It's good and it's bad, but could we even stop it if we tried?