Review by Choice Review
The title of this readable and fascinating book affectionately names Tyrannosaurus rex a "monster." Discovery of this immense carnivorous dinosaur in the early 20th century literally made the nascent and struggling natural history museum in New York, then directed by Henry Fairfield Osborn, who was desperate to find complete skeletons that would attract the general public and allow him to compete with the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. Osborn got lucky when he hired Barnum Brown, who found THE T. rex that, once mounted and placed on display, would become the museum's icon. Of course T. rex was not alone as numerous other large dinosaurs--with names now well-known to most children--were gradually added to keep the monster company in the museum's two large halls of ancient reptiles. This complex tale is magnificently written, a page-turner in the hands of best-selling author and journalist Randall (Reuters). Fossil hunter Barnum Brown is really "the story" here, but the reader learns just how dinosaurs were found--the excruciating labor involved in extracting them from the rocky substrate--and why paleontology, albeit extremely difficult, could pay such large dividends. While Osborn succeeded only because of Brown's discovery, the real heroes of this early-20th-century tale are New York City and the American Museum of Natural History. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --John Kricher, emeritus, Wheaton College (MA)
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Reuters reporter Randall (Black Death at the Golden Gate) chronicles the fossil-hunting exploits of Barnum Brown (1873--1963) in this colorful adventure saga. Hailed as "the Father of the Dinosaurs" in his New York Times obituary, Brown discovered his first fossils in coal deposits his father dug up on the family's Kansas farm. His uncanny knack for finding the mineral-preserved remains of ancient creatures eventually landed him a job working for paleontologist and railroad scion Henry Fairfield Osborn, who was leading the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. Randall takes note of how Osborn's racist and eugenicist beliefs intertwined with his overweening ambition, but the focus is on Brown, who most famously discovered and excavated the first documented tyrannosaurus rex remains in Montana's Hell Creek Formation. Randall draws on Brown's unpublished memoirs and biographies by his daughter, Frances, and second wife, Lilian, to draw a multidimensional portrait of the paleontologist, and astutely analyzes the T. rex's place in popular culture while maintaining that the most important lesson to be learned from the dinosaur's "fearsome reign" on Earth may be that "the climate always wins." Paleontology buffs will thrill to this vibrant, treasure-filled account. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
At the end of the 19th century, American museums, pressured to create a revenue stream that would sustain them, began to send parties of scientists, excavators, treasure hunters, and adventure seekers to find and extract dinosaur bones. These groups scoured some of the most inaccessible places on the continent and hauled tons of specimens by horse and wagon to the nearest railroad spur. When Barnum Brown discovered the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton for the American Museum of Natural History, it changed how people thought about life, extinction, and Darwin's theory of evolution. The race to find the oldest and the biggest specimens of T. rex was on. Randall (Black Death at the Golden Gate) tells this story of exploration and discovery by following the work of Brown, the museums competing for preeminence, and the millionaires who funded the projects. He underlines the enduring fascination with dinosaurs by describing the Christie's auction of "Stan" the T. rex in 2020; the skeleton sold for $31.8 million. Narrator Roman Howell offers an enjoyable dramatic reading. VERDICT Recommended for history readers and dinosaur lovers.--Joanna M. Burkhardt
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The story of the world's most iconic dinosaur. The central human figure in this book is a man named Barnum Brown (1873-1963), who transcended his humble upbringing on a Kansas farm to become one of the nation's most accomplished paleontologists. Reuters senior reporter Randall, author of Black Death at the Golden Gate, among other books, offers an astute and entertaining account of Brown's indefatigable pursuit of fossils and the intense competition he entered into with rival hunters. The author sets Brown's major discoveries against a broader consideration of the cultural significance of his greatest find, in 1900: the first partial skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, "the largest known predator in Earth's history." Randall carefully outlines the shifts in scientific understanding prompted by the appearance of this "monster," and he makes a persuasive case for its profound impact on our conception of the history of life on Earth. As he notes, "the thud with which its discovery landed and shifted our understanding of ourselves and our planet reverberates still." The author vividly renders the early and ongoing commercial appeal of T. rex, and a prominent theme is the often contentious intersection of science and big business in the fossil trade: Museums and private collectors began to contend fiercely for specimens in the late 19th century, with the fearsome T. rex becoming, after Brown's discovery, the most prized target. Also memorable are Randall's investigations of some of the most colorful personalities in the burgeoning field of dinosaur studies, including the infamous combatants in the so-called Bone Wars, Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, whose struggles for personal distinction were often outrageously unscrupulous. In the epilogue, Randall charts the dramatic growth of the T. rex industry over the past century or so, underscoring the importance of Brown's pioneering efforts. An absorbing account of early dinosaur discoveries and their cultural legacies. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
