Includes bibliographical references (p. 318-328) and index.

The Geological Time-Scale -- Antediluvian Sauria -- Murchison Names the Permian -- The Death of Catastrophism -- The Concept That Dared Not Speak Its Name -- Impact! -- Diversity, Extinction and Mass Extinction -- Homing in on the Event -- Life's Biggest Challenge -- A Tale of Two Continents -- On the River Sakmara -- What Caused the Biggest Catastrophe of All Time? -- The Sixth Mass Extinction?.

Today it is common knowledge that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite impact 65 million years ago that killed half of all species then living. Far less well-known is a much greater catastrophe that took place at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago: at least 90 percent of life was destroyed, both on land and in the sea. The Earth became a cold, airless place, with only one or two species eking out a poor existence. This book documents not only what happened during this gigantic mass extinction but also the recent rekindling of the idea of catastrophism. Scientists have at last come to accept that the world has been subject to huge cataclysms in the past. For the end-Permian event the killing models are controversial -- was the agent the impact of a huge meteorite or comet, or prolonged volcanic eruption in Siberia? This is an insider's account, from the geologists' field camps in Greenland and Russia to the laboratory bench, of how a panoply of scientists are pursuing a major interdisciplinary goal. Their working methods are vividly described and explained, and the current disputes are revealed. As Michael Benton shows, the implications for today's biodiversity crisis of understanding crises millions of years ago are relevant for us all.