Illustrated with 160 images of the work of London-born Brian Nissen (lives and works in Mexico), this monograph offers a panoramic vision of the artists major themes, including myth, history, anthropology, and biology, expressed in a range of pictorial techniques. This book covers both the works of Nissen's early years and his interesting later series: Atlántida, Chinampas, and Límulus. It also includes his visual interpretation of Octavio Paz's great poem Obsidian Butterfly, as well as his codices, reinterpretations of ancient Mexican books imagined in the context of contemporary art. Accompanying the images are essays on Nissen's career by Dore Ashton, Juan Villoro, Ricardo Cayuela, Alberto Ruy Sánchez, and the artist himself.