\047Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin\047 On topics ranging from intelligent design and climate change to the politics of gender and race, the evolutionary writings of Charles Darwin occupy a pivotal position in contemporary public debate. This volume brings together the key chapters of his most important and accessible books, including the Journal of Researches on the Beagle voyage (1845), the Origin of Species (1871), and the Descent of Man, along with the full text of his delightful autobiography. They are accompanied by generous selections of responses from Darwin\047s nineteenth-century readers from across the world. More than anything, they give a keen sense of the controversial nature of Darwin\047s ideas, and his position within Victorian debates about man\047s place in nature. The wide-ranging introduction by James A. Secord, Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project, explores the global impact and origins of Darwin\047s work and the reasons for its unparalleled significance today.