The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life

The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life
by Tim Haines, Paul Chambers

The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life
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Book Summary Information

Author: Paul Chambers, Tim Haines
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-01-19
ISBN: 155407181X
Number of pages: 216
Publisher: Firefly Books

Book Reviews of The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life

Book Review: THIS IS A GREAT BOOK!
Summary: 5 Stars

My only complaint about the book is its title: "The COMPLETE Guide to Prehistoric Life". It is by no means a complete or encyclopedic guide.....however it is very informative, entertaining and the pictures/illustrations are superbly done.

For its size, the book does an admirable job of covering some of the most interesting animals from prehistory and not just the dinosaurs.
This book was published by the same people who aired the series "Walking with Dinosaurs" "Walking with Beasts" several years ago and makes a great followup to the DVDs.

The level of the text is straightforward (not too high and scientific.... yet certainly not a "Barney Book" book either) and appeals in my opinion to people of any age who just want to look and see and find out about what was around back then.
I've read some of the other reviews here, and I agree there is some sensationalizing, and certainly liberties are taken in guesswork about these animals- but then again, it makes the book more fun to read and we all know nobody knows the facts for sure. Some animals for example we only have a single jawbone or half a skeleton to go on so there is plenty of room for imagination and guesswork. The authors tend to focus mostly on the largest and most bizarre animals but then again, that's usually what draws the crowds.
I collect dinosaur books and find this one is one of the most looked at, unlike many books of this nature it goes a bit farther than just a picture of an animal and a short paragraph- often has several different poses, and more background information, longer schpiels.

I got this book for $8 off Amazon, although when it arrived it wasn't exactly 'new' as advertised, it had a library sticker on it(???). Nevertheless, an exceptional buy and well worth the price. A must have for the dinosaur fan!


3/09/10 I just wanted to add one more thing after looking through this book- the size of the dinosaurs are continually exaggerated. Most of them are at least five feet bigger than their counterparts in other dino books, and in some cases (such as Scutosaurus and Liopleurodon), they are TWICE the size they are in other books.
Argentinosaurus, the largest land animal that ever lived, ridiculously oversized (the human figure looks almost like a dust speck in comparison). Oh well.




Summary of The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life

The most exciting view of prehistoric life.

"Comprehensive, illustrated encyclopedia to prehistoric animals... lifelike detail... this easily readable book should appeal to dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages."
-Science News

The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. The book's concise, jargon-free text and full color illustrations bring the primordial world to vivid photo-realistic life. In-depth profiles of 112 kinds of beasts cover physical characteristics, lifestyle, habitat and behavior. Throughout, "fascinating fact" sidebars offer additional bits of "dinotrivia." But there is more than dinosaurs here. Readers will find creatures from triobites to early human beings.

At the heart of the book are 350 richly detailed and lifelike color illustrations -- accompanied by comprehensive text -- which are the result of pioneering work by the Emmy award-winning creative team at Framestore CFC. Using animation, graphic effects and filmmaking, they recreated awe-inspiring prehistoric creatures and the world they lived in. These images are now reproduced to thrill readers.

The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life was published to accompany two BBC TV prime-time programs, Life Before Dinosaurs and Walking with Life, both part of the Discovery Channel's award-winning Walking with Dinosaurs series.

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