The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs – Book Review

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

by Steve Brusatte

I bet it is not very hard for the majority of people to grasp the content of this book just by scanning its title. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte is an epically written summary of the amazing history of the dinosaurs, from their modest beginnings in the Triassic supercontinent called Pangea, through their remarkably widespread dominance all across the Earth, to the tragic demise of most of them at the end of the Cretaceous Period, around 66 million years ago. It is probably not easy to crunch over 150 million years of dinosaur existence in the Mesozoic Era into a single book in an organized and comprehensive way, but the author has proven himself by successfully executing this noble, monumental task.

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a thrilling journey both in the present and ancient past. Steve takes readers from place to place on the globe, using his personal experiences and stories to guide the dinosaur-curious minds through the long, wondrous evolutionary tale of our distant reptilian cousins. Along the way, you'll meet many paleontological figures – before reading the book I had known or at least heard of many of them and it is nice to have furthered my knowledge of them through the oft witty descriptions given by the author. Steve presents the story in this book with his amazing rhetorical writing skills, producing a fantastic marriage between art and science that keeps the readers riveted along the ride. Throughout the book you will bone-deeply feel his immense passion for dinosaurs, and science more generally, as well as clearly see that Steve is a man of humility – I'd really love to chew the fat with him over a ketoprak dinner in Jakarta, if I have the chance. Tyrannosaurus rex is undoubtedly the most famous non-bird dinosaur and Steve treats us to one chapter fully devoted to the "tyrant lizard king". The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs certainly deserves a place on any dinophile's bookshelf and is too good to be left unread.

The book that you see in the picture above was published by Macmillan (UK version). A U.S. version was released by William Morrow and you can buy it here. You might also want to watch a brief video of Steve talking about the book here.

Have you read The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs? What is your take on this book? Share what you think in the comment section below!