| Preface: A Malacologist's Apology | 9 |
| Introduction: The Fingerprints of History | 13 |
| 1 A Message from Our Ancestors | 29 |
| 2 The Rules of the Game | 43 |
| 3 Herodotus Revised | 55 |
| 4 Change or Decay | 71 |
| 5 The Battle of the Sexes | 84 |
| 6 Clocks, Fossils and Apes | 100 |
| 7 Time and Chance | 114 |
| 8 The Economics of Eden | 128 |
| 9 The Kingdoms of Cain | 142 |
| 10 Darwin's Strategist | 156 |
| 11 The Deadly Fevers | 169 |
| 12 Caliban's Revenge | 182 |
| 13 Cousins Under the Skin | 197 |
| 14 Evolution Engineered | 211 |
| 15 Fear of Frankenstein | 224 |
| 16 The Evolution of Utopia | 237 |
| Selected Bibliography | 251 |
| Index | 263 |