Hidden Kingdom: The Surprising Story of Fungi and Our Forests, Homes, and Bodies

From a leading mycologist: Keith Seifert, now retired, spent 40 years studying fungi across five continents. He was president of the International Mycological Association, an executive editor of Mycologia, and associate editor of several other scientific journals. A uniquely all-encompassing book about fungi: most popular fungi books focus on the kind of fungi that you can see and that live with plants. Seifert looks at a variety of different types of fungi, including those that are invisible to the naked eye, and those that live in relationship to humans, agriculture, animals, forests, cities, and more. There are now 56 species of fungi that are considered endangered. And yet the Endangered Species Act does not explicitly protect fungi. Fungi play a critical role in climate change. Fungi hold promise for breaking down plastics and generating new types of biofuels, and such research is helping to draw interest in fungi and the important role they play in biodiversity and combating climate change. Interest in fungi is exploding after the publications of The Hidden Life of Trees and Entangled Life, and the recent Netflix documentary Fantastic Fungi, which sparked readers’ curiosity about how humans are connected to fungi-a topic Seifert explores more in-depth. Fun Fact!: the fungi featured on the cover is an Ergot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot