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The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life

Authors: Tim Haines, Paul Chambers
Publisher: BBC Books
Category: Book

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

5 reviews
Sales Rank: 94862

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 216
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.6
Dimensions (in): 11 x 8.7 x 1

ISBN: 0563522194
EAN: 9780563522195
ASIN: 0563522194

Publication Date: October 6, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Unwanted gift

Also Available In:

•	Paperback - The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life
•	Hardcover - The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life

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•	Walking With Monsters : Complete BBC Series
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•	Prehistoric Park [2006]
•	Chased by Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Predators of the Deep
•	The Big Dinosaur Box (4 Disc BBC Box Set)

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars

Buy for the graphics not for the text September 6, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The idea that this relatively thin volume could possibly be a 'complete' guide to 500 million years of evolution is faintly and in fact this book only scratches the surface of our limited knowledge of prehistoric life. The inclusion of 'complete' in the title actually refers to the fact that this book is a companion to all three of the 'Walking With' TV series - Dinosaurs, Monsters, and Beasts).

There are about 100 animals featured (no plants) each covering one or two pages. The text begins with describing the animal and its probable lifestyle, then goes on to the discovery of the first fossils and its place in the evolutionary tree. This last bit is very confusing and little is gained by its inclusion. In fact the whole text would be better presented as a 'fact file' with small paragraphs under each subject, such as food, habitat, taxonomy etc.

The big advantage this book has over its competitors is the full weight of computer graphics that comes from its link to the three TV series'. All the pictures featured (over 200) are stills from these films and they go a long way to bringing prehistoric creatures to life on the page. The only disappointment with this is that the majority are merely pictures of the animal standing in its environment rather than in the behavioural poses that was such a great feature on the TV.

In terms of reliability it falls woefully short of many other publications. For a start it manages to contradict itself on several occasions. More importantly however there are certain important bits that the book gets horribly wrong such as confusing reptile with lizard. These are serious errors because they are not realised unless you have some knowledge of prehistoric life already, so can mislead many readers - a sacrilege for a 'guide book'!

In short this book should not be relied upon as the source of your prehistoric knowledge. In terms of illustration it is good and is perhaps more entertaining than others, so may be better for attracting young people to the subject. Having said that it's probably better (and by now possibly cheaper) to buy the DVDs!

2 out of 5 stars

Eye-catching but inaccurate April 19, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

The authors of this book were perhaps a little presumptuous when giving it a title - it goes without saying that this slim volume is hardly the 'complete' guide to prehistoric life. It does, however, feature almost all the creatures that appeared in the B.B.C. series 'Walking With Monsters', 'Walking With Dinosaurs' and 'Walking With Beasts', as well as additional species.

For the most part, the computer-generated images of the animals are excellent (though the cave lion is incorrectly proportioned, being depicted with a short tail when it was, in fact, identical to modern lions except for being larger and would therefore have had a long tail).

Unfortunately, though the majority of the information given is correct, there are an unacceptable number of mistakes in the text. Many are simple schoolboy errors, such as using the word ancestor in place of descendant, or stating that 'artiodactyl' means 'odd-toed' when in fact it means 'even-toed'. Some may even be typographical errors - for example, it is stated that Smilodon became extinct 100,000 years ago, when it actually became extinct only 10,000 years ago. In either case, these should have been picked up at the editing stage and should not have made it into final print.

What I found more irritating was the apparently deliberate mistranslation of the word 'saurus' (which means 'lizard') as 'reptile' in the case of almost every creature with this as part of its name. Anyone with even a passing interest in palaeontology knows that the name of the famous Tyrannosaurus translates as 'tyrant lizard' - here, however, it is translated as 'terrible reptile'. Whilst it is true that many of these animals were named when dinosaurs were believed to be cold-blooded, lizard-like creatures, one cannot simply change the meaning of the word to reflect our new knowledge.

It is one thing to overlook facts here and there in a work of fiction, but in a supposedly educational reference book I feel every effort should be made to ensure the accuracy of the information, else what is the point? In short, if you buy this book, do so only for the handsome reconstructions of the animals - as an accurate source of knowledge, it should not be relied upon.

4 out of 5 stars

Nice compilation of ancient "beasts" January 16, 2006
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

This volume by Tim Haines of "Walking with..." fame is a handsome compilation of some (perhaps even all?) of the many ocreatures featured in those series. There is at least one late inclusion which did not feature in any of the series - and I seem to recollect that there may be a few other welcome interlopers representing more recent discoveries.

Each creature is allocated one, or, in some cases, two pages of background information and at least one "photo". This kind of space doesn't allow for any indepth review or discussion, but, that's not the purpose of this volume - its a quick overview of a host of more eye catching or significant species from our deep past.

The book would be ideal of as a momento of the Walking with Monsters, Dinosaurs and Beasts series - note that the "creatures" of Walking with Cavemen are not represented within this book - I guess because they wanted to retain the relatively more exotic feel associated with non-humanoid creatures.

It is pitched at least at an early secondary school level, but would be adequate for the interested laymen of any age greater than that. It assumes little prior knowledge, and is very accessible.

This book is suitable for those fascinated by ancient life (although not overly academic in their fascination) and who enjoyed the way in the which the "Walking with" series tried to depict a sample of that life. It is a colourful, vivid "family album" of many of the fascinating, improbable, and/or dramatic creatures which once walked this world.

5 out of 5 stars Re: A Monster of a Book! December 14, 2005
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This book does exactly what it says on the cover. As a guide to the prehistoric world it really is unbeatable. It takes you from the formation of the Earth, 4.5 billion years ago, through to the modern day. As well as getting a potted history of life on Earth, this book also acts as an encyclopedia to prehistoric.

By my count over 100 animals (from all time periods) are portrayed in detail using the realistic computer generated photographs that Walking with Dinos is famous for. Each animal has one or two pages devoted to including several hundred words of text that describes what it looked like, where and when it lived, how it may have behaviour and also its evolutionary history and the history of its discovery. There is a lot of information packed in, including some amazing facts.

I am familiar with books on fossils and dinosaurs and I must say that this is one of the best ones I've come across. It manages to get that rare balance of being informative without being dull. I would recommend it to children and adults alike.

4 out of 5 stars Well put together and inclusive of the latest research November 14, 2005
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

I have followed Tim Haines’ road to Earth’s prehistoric life and I have thoroughly enjoyed both “Walking with Dinosaurs” and “Walking with Beasts” in their book and TV series formats. This latest addition, covering the whole story, from the first stirrings of life in the Cambrian up to the emergence of Homo Sapiens, is up to the high standards set by the previous books.
The text is very well written and manages to be quite thorough and to the point, given the small space allowed for each of the examined geological periods and individual species. The authors always try to include the latest results scientific research has to offer, for the various prehistoric creatures presented. At the same time, they are very careful to point out the huge gaps in our knowledge about prehistoric life, due to the scarcity of the fossil record. And of course they make a lot of educated guesses, but these are an indispensable part of paleontology.
Given the restricted space of the book, it is unavoidable that only a handful of prehistoric species are presented, so one may regret the absence of special favorites. My personal regret is the absence of Caudipteryx or, for that matter, of anyone of the feathered dinosaurs, discovered in China during the 90s. Certainly, they are referred to when the authors examine bipedal carnivorous dromaeosaurids, trying to establish the dinosaurs-birds connection, but it is not the same. And I would also like to have estimations about each species’ weight included in its data table, a matter not always covered in the text.
Putting this minor regrets aside, along with some typing errors, which should not have made it to the final print of a BBC edition, the book is both educating and entertaining in the extreme. The vivid text, along with the superb CGI illustrations and the very clear chronological table and diagrams at the end, go a long way to ensure the reader’s pleasure.