The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: Brief Book Review
History, from the Beginning (Book #4)
In 2018 I realised my knowledge of history was plain bad. This series charts my re-education, starting from the big bang and working my way to present day one book at a time. (Learn more)
While the aforementioned Life featured dinosaurs in its sweeping natural history, I thought it would be remiss to not at least read one dedicated book on the impressive beasts that ruled Earth before us (and continue to rule the imaginations of young children everywhere).
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs gives an excellent, up-to-date account on our current understanding of the dinosaurs. Brusatte is clearly a pioneer in his field, and he successfully incorporates his personal journey to give it the book a human touch.
In saying that, I distinctly remember being overwhelmed by all the this-osaurs and that-osaurs throughout; it was a relief to stumble across a triceratops or a diplodocus.
While I appreciated the detail and rigour that Brusatte delivers in a short 350 pages, I couldn’t help but feel somehow disengaged once the novelty of the subject matter wore off. This is evidenced by not one dog-eared highlight throughout the book. I don’t think this is a reflection of Brusatte’s writing, but perhaps my preference for dinosaurs to remain in the world of my imagination rather than on the archaeologist’s table.
