Stretching 1,400 miles along the Australian coast and visible from space, the Great Barrier Reef is home to three thousand individual reefs, more than nine hundred islands, and thousands of marine species, and has alternately been viewed as a deadly maze, an economic bounty, a scientific frontier, and a precarious World Heritage site. Now acclaimed historian, explorer, and University of Sydney Professor of History Iain McCalman takes us on a new adventure into the reef to reveal how our shifting perceptions of the natural world have shaped this extraordinary seascape. Showcasing the lives of Twenty individuals spanning more than two centuries, "The Great Barrier Reef: How Human Stories Matter" highlights our profound desire to conquer, understand, embrace, and ultimately save the world's most complex ocean ecosystem.