The Wild Dark

"By slowly cycling into ever-deeper physical darkness and reconnecting with both the ancient and the surprisingly recent past, Childs shows how a lack of artificial light is not something to fear, but a state of being vital to our biology and our psychology. The Wild Dark illuminates all that humanity stands to lose by extinguishing the wondrous, all-encompassing nightscape that is our birthright."
--REBECCA BOYLE, Our Moon

"A celebration of the night sky, a testament to how many people are disconnected from the darkness where the stars--used by our ancestors for navigation--shine brilliantly."
--REBECCA SOLNIT, Hope in the Dark

"With Childs leading the way, we're never off-course in this cosmic overworld adventure--Dante's Virgil doesn't hold a candle. You'll get thirsty, scraped, and saddle sore. You'll jump at the burst of ordnance and shiver as night creatures slither past. But you'll never again see that big black bowl of night sky as a distant, indifferent void. Nor will you think of it as the realm of gods. You'll no longer take for granted what's being lost to so much bright artifice, the piece of our humanity that's snuffed with it. Once this book has had its way with you, you'll throw down your bag, ditch the headlamp, and turn off that damn phone. You'll revert to the thing we were meant to be--wide-eyed and wild, to the bone."
--AMY IRVINE, Desert Cabal

"The Wild Dark is a personal journey and a fact-packed thought-provoker."
--JOHAN EKLÖF, Darkness Manifesto 

"The firsthand experience of day turning into night, of the quiet, solitude, and beauty that depends on darkness, has become inaccessible to many and forgotten by even more. And why would this matter? What do we lose when we no longer experience a natural night? In The Wild Dark, Childs offers a compelling answer, mixing science and history with a journey made of good humor and vibrant language. This is a great read--one that takes the reader on a two-wheeled trek--into the desert, into the dark, under the stars--and shows us what can happen when we pay attention to the ancient wild world that still revolves around us, awaiting our gaze, welcoming our awe, inspiring our praise."
--PAUL BOGARD, The End of Night

"As ever, Childs weaves in urgent issues, from what artificial light does to birds, to night sky advocacy, to solutions for protecting the flickering stars that grace us. One leaves this gorgeous book filled with wonder, not only for stars, but for everything from tarantulas to archeoastronomy." 

--LAURA PRITCHETT, Playing with Wildfire

"With resonant prose and a deep awareness, Childs basks in the awesome wonder of the night sky and reminds us all to do the most intrinsic thing: look up!"
--EVAN SCHERTZ, Maria's Bookshop owner


"The night sky--the stars and the deep, black spaces between them--may be the source of a particular wild wisdom that throughout our evolutionary history guaranteed our success as a species. Childs has written The Wild Dark because we need that vast wisdom now."
--BROOKE WILLIAMS, The Story of My Heart 

"Childs threads celestial connections across time and into space like no other, taking us with him and his compatriots as they travel through the landscape into darkness to reveal the sky's light. The cosmological journey animates the physical one across the desert, and we once again experience the magic in Craig's ability to illuminate our lives through exploring our past. If you've ever stared at the stars and wondered at who or what else had done the same, this book is for you."
--DAVID EVERITT, Back of Beyond Books

"Eyes wide and sparkling with stars, Childs once again takes us on a journey we didn't know we needed--this time into the diminishing darkness of our night skies.  With his signature reverence for mystery, adventure, wonder and all things ancient and new, Childs turns scientific inquiry, observational acumen, poetic imagination,  and a love of language into a dazzling and tragic image of ourselves--a people so in love with light we are killing the dark.  And yet, at every turn, we are also given a reason to laugh, a reason to love, and a reason to pay attention to the marvels that surround us every day.  At the heart of this book is a way forward, a reminder of our shared humanity, and a mirror as big as the moon."
--WENDY VIDELOCK, Wise to the West

"Join Childs on a rapturous bike adventure, traversing a beautifully crafted narrative that takes you from our electric inferno to the furthest outlook of the nearest heavens."
--MARK SUNDEEN, Delusions + Grandeur


"Childs may be best known for looking down and beyond. He has scoured desert floors for signs of moisture in some of the driest places on Earth. He has peered out from a sand burial, a place of respite in the midday blazing heat. And he has carefully scanned canyon alcoves for signs of the ancient ones. In The Wild Dark, Childs heads out on two wheels, pedaling away from a place so bright it's clearly visible from space, while searching for the increasing darkness above. 'There has never been this much light,' he writes, as he guides us in an exploration of the night sky in its evolving phases of darkness. He goes deep into the cosmos and into humanity's grasp of the heavens above, as well as the light from below. Despite the complexity, Childs has a simple message: DO look up, where wonder and stories abound."
--HOWARD BERKES, retired investigations correspondent for NPR