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2. ''Charles Darwin: A Biography, Vol. 1 – Voyaging & Vol. 2 – The Power of Place'' by Janet Browne.<ref>Browne, E. Janet. Charles Darwin: Voyaging: a Biography. Princeton University Press, 2005.</ref> Most historians of science view Browne’s two-part biography of Charles Darwin as the most thorough and engaging work on Darwin’s life and the creation of his theory of evolution by natural selection. Browne draws on countless sources, including Darwin's personal letters and journals to give her reader a crystal-clear picture of Darwin’s frame of mind before publishing ''On the Origin of Species'' in 1859.
3. ''The Politics of Evolution'' by Adrian Desmond.<ref>Desmond, Adrian. The Politics of Evolution: Morphology, Medicine and Reform in Radical London. University of Chicago Press, 2011.</ref> This work, as its name suggests, deals with how ideas about evolution were taken up by disenfranchised, politically agitated, and reform-minded peoples in Britain, Europe, and America to further populist agendas.
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4. ''Evolution: The History of an Idea'' by Peter J. Bowler.<ref>Bowler, Peter J. Evolution: the History of an Idea. University of California Press, 2009.</ref> This is a great work for those who are looking for a primer on the history of evolutionary thought both before and after Charles Darwin. Bowler's work offers a wealth of references for those who wish to further pursue the topic.
5. ''Huxley: From Devil’s Disciple to Evolutions High Priest'' by Adrian Desmond.<ref>Desmond, Adrian. Huxley: from Devil's Disciple to Evolution's High Priest. Helix Books, 1999.</ref> Thomas Henry Huxley was known as “Darwin’s bulldog”. Huxley is perhaps most well known for coining the term “agnostic” in 1869. While Darwin adhered to a more genteel version of his theory of evolution, Huxley debated anyone he could as to the theory's truths.
6. ''Darwin’s Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution'' by Rebecca Stott.<ref>Stott, Rebecca. Darwin's Ghosts: the Secret History of Evolution. Spiegel & Grau, 2013.</ref> This far-reaching work explores evolutionary ideas that preceded Victorian evolutionary concepts by many centuries. Stott gives credence to the bravery of evolutionary theorists, from Aristotle to Darwin, for their willingness to defy societal norms.
