Steve White

In a word, this is a very cool book, and besides illustrating ancient life, it exposes the reader to a burgeoning world of artists, turning cutting edge research into art. For "sense of wonder" it really can't be topped, and I have no qualms in giving it top marks.

A massive coffee-table type book showcasing the work of twenty "palaeoartists". Most work in realist styles, but a few go for more stylized or abstract approaches that don't attempt to depict what the creatures may really have looked like. Those were for the most part not really to my taste, but much of the rest of the book I found excellent.

The title is a bit of a misnomer - while Mesozoic animals generally and dinosaurs in particular dominate the book, there's some Palaeozoic and Cenozoic show more animals in there too. show less

Some of the vampire lore in here you don't hear about often, but the book was too focused on it's military angle for me to enjoy it much more.
Did enjoy their theory that vampires can't stand sunlight and must sleep in their native soil for the first 30 years as a vampire though.

In this book Japan attacks Pearl Harbor hoping to destroy and be boss of America. (searching for victory) thousands of men die, because it is a war of course. One of my questions in the beginning was what did America do to deserve a fight with Japan? Through the story I found out that torpedoes are heavy bombs which can cause huge explosions and damage. I think the drawings in this book are really good and colorful.Some words I thought I almost never used were modified, shallow, stability, show more buoyancy, shattered, blasting, and burst. (pages 14 - 15) show less