Told through stories from an extraordinary career and fascinating research, this urgent book, written by the world's most famous living naturalist and an internationally best-selling author, explores one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature--hope.

In 1944, the war had reached its climax in continental Europe. News of secret diaries kept by Italy's former Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano, had permeated public consciousness. What wasn't reported, however, was how three women-a Fascist's daughter, aGerman spy, and an American socialite-risked their lives to ensure the diaries would reach the Allied forces, who would use the papers as key evidence against the Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials. Just...