China is home to one of Earth's largest and most diverse mix of plant and animals. Many are among the rarest creatures alive, some now surviving only in captivity. An unfortunate few went extinct early this century. How did this come to pass?

Great Joy Under Heaven tells the history of dozens of species spread across the breadth of China: from the taiga of Manchuria to the burning deserts of the far west, from the bamboo forests of Sichuan to the tropical island of Hainan, and from the Roof of the World down the Long River to the sea.

Spanning the ancient expulsion of rhinos and elephants from the Chinese heartland to the disappearance and return of the elaphure and takhi, this volume recounts the drastic effects of humanity on the wildlife of China over the past 4,000 years and the ongoing struggles to save and restore some of what has been lost.