David Attenborough pens Zoo Quest for Two Roads

John Murray imprint Two Roads is publishing two volumes of Sir David Attenborough’s early adventures that were originally published in the 1950s and 60s.

The first volume, Zoo Quest: the adventures of a young naturalist, is about Attenborough's 1954 expeditions for the BBC to find rare animals for London Zoo and will publish in September 2017. 

The re-edited volumes, which have been out of print for over 30 years, will be his first narrative publications since 2010’s Life on Air (BBC Books). They will be re-edited with Attenborough's input and include a new selection of images from his original collection. 

Kate Hewson, senior editor at Two Roads,  bought world rights from Lutterworth Press. She said: "The Zoo Quest books are wonderful, proper adventure stories that deserve to be read by a new audience, and we’re extremely excited to be publishing them. Everyone knows and loves Sir David Attenborough, and this is a unique chance to see where the adventures began."

Attenborough’s book sales across the world total almost a million copies and his most recent documentary, "Planet Earth II", drew in 10 million viewers per episode. "Blue Planet II" will air later this year. His biggest seller is 1998’s The Life of Birds (BBC Books) with 152,512 copies sold for £2.3m, and in total he has sold 806,667 books for £11.04m, according to Nielsen Bookscan.