Hope . . . and the Hedgehog: Life? Death? And then what? Our personal quest... - Tom Vaughan

How did life begin? How does it end? What happens to those qualities that make each of us alive as individuals after the bodies they animated die and disappear?

Taking inspiration from Sir David Attenborough's maxim 'Nature wastes nothing' and drawing on the wisdom of commentators as varied as NASA astronauts, the Dalai Lama, existential philosophers, a couple of prescient teenagers and even an engagingly 'human' gorilla - Hope . . . and the Hedgehog distils the thinking behind the principal interpretations of creation, before presenting them to the reader in an easily digestible summary.

This is not a religious book and nor does it extol religion - rather it offers the same kind of assurance Bear Grylls presents to his readers. In the same way, it helps unpick the enduring puzzle that prompted Steve Jobs, creator and co-founder of Apple, to enigmatically describe death as 'Very likely the single best invention of life.' Which reinforces the importance of hope addressed here.