By Eleanor Harris Walk into any bookshop this year and you won’t fail to notice that a big armful of books are being published to mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s seminal The Origin of Species. We (editors and our reviewers) have done the hard work for you and have read, mostly with enjoyment, the books put out there: here is our guide. First up, a radical new explanation of the force that drove Darwin: the abolition of slavery. Darwin’s Sacred Cause by Adrian Desmond and James Moore Darwin’s Island by Steve Jones Remarkable Creatures by Sean B Carroll On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (150th anniversary edition, with jacket designed by Damien Hirst) Evolutionary Writings by Charles Darwin, edited by James A Secord Darwin’s Lost World by Martin Brasier Evolution: The first four billion years edited by Michael Ruse and Joseph Travis Angels and Ages by Adam Gopnik The Young Charles Darwin by Keith Thomson Evolution Revolution by Robert Winston Why Us? How science rediscovered the mystery of ourselves by James Le Fanu Darwin in his own words – he wasn’t great at soundbites, but his letters reveal much about his life and mind A new collection by acclaimed poet and Darwin’s great-great-granddaughter Ruth Padel tells the story of the great man’s life and work through a series of vivid poems. It was a difficult task narrowing down our choice, but here is our selection of Padel’s poems. More on these topics: