In The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, top palaeontologist Steve Brusatte brings prehistoric Earth brilliantly to life in an illustrated Folio edition with stunning art from Davide Bonadonna.

They’re the celebrities of the primeval world: Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, Velociraptor, Stegosaurus and Brachiosaurus. All these A-listers and a vast supporting cast are brought thrillingly to life in The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, hailed by Scientific American as ‘the ultimate dinosaur biography’.

In an exhilarating trip through 150 million years of evolutionary history, world-leading palaeontologist Steve Brusatte charts the complete story of the dinosaurs, from the scampering lizards that found an evolutionary toehold in the Triassic period to the vast Jurassic sauropods – the biggest land dwellers ever to have lived – and the bloodthirsty raptors that preyed on them. A chapter is devoted to the most fearsome of all, T. rex. The story ends not with mass extinction, but with the revelation that modern birds are simply ‘a weird form of dinosaur’. This Folio edition includes a superb fold-out colour map featuring silhouettes by palaeo-artist Emily Willoughby and selected archive images, plus vivid fossil photography throughout. Award-winning palaeo-artist Davide Bonadonna contributes the spectacular fold-out illustrations of dinosaurs in action. This is the book for anyone seeking to know more about the most notorious denizens of our prehistoric past.

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Bound in printed and blocked cloth

Set in Nocturne Serif

296 pages

Integrated title page illustration plus an 8-page full-colour gatefold illustration

32 pages of colour plates

Large fold-out colour map in corner pocket

Printed slipcase

10˝ x 6¾˝

GLORIOUS ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Superb illustration places this volume beyond all previous editions. The author, who advised Folio on artwork for its editions of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park and The Lost World, has been closely involved in every aspect of picture editing. The wholly new selection of colour photographs includes many of the most significant and visually arresting fossil discoveries. However, Brusatte recognises that ‘when it comes to dinosaurs ... readers rightfully want to see them in full technicolor glory.’ That promise is fulfilled with stunning artwork from Davide Bonadonna. He contributes the slipcase, cover and fold-out spreads ‘showing two magnificent scenes of dinosaurs in their natural settings, at two moments in time’. The two-sided map, tucked into its own pocket, depicts the shifting prehistoric continents and the most important fossil locations from modern times, plus a complete dinosaur family tree and timeline.

A TALE OF DISCOVERY

‘Brusatte’s mastery of his field, formidable explanatory powers and engaging style have combined to produce a masterpiece of science writing.’

Washington Post

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is not just a masterpiece of natural history; it’s also a superb detective story, showing how scientists and fossil hunters set about solving one of the greatest mysteries of life on Earth. Brusatte introduces a cast of brilliant misfits, from his own mentors and colleagues to the pioneers of yesteryear. We meet gruff bone-diggers who brawled and pilfered in the Wild West; the ‘first celebrity palaeontologist’ Barnum Brown, discoverer of T. rex; and the tortured Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás, the ‘Dinosaur Baron’ of Transylvania. Brusatte’s own journey is every bit as exhilarating, in what he calls a new 'golden age of discovery': one where, on average, a new species of dinosaur is still being uncovered each week.

ABOUT STEVE BRUSATTE

Steve Brusatte is a palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist who conducts fieldwork across the world; he has discovered more than 15 species of fossil animal. Brusatte studied at the universities of Chicago and Bristol before completing a PhD at Columbia University in New York, and is now Chair of Palaeontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh. His six books include one for children, The Age of Dinosaurs, and a study of cutting-edge science, Dinosaur Paleobiology. Brusatte is regularly consulted by the media on dinosaur-related topics and was the palaeontological adviser on the film ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’. He is the palaeontology consultant for the ‘Jurassic World’ film franchise.

ABOUT DAVIDE BONADONNA

Davide Bonadonna is an Italian scientific and medical illustrator best known for his artwork reconstructing extinct animals known only from the palaeontological record. His palaeo art has been commissioned by museums, book publishers and magazines including Nature and National Geographic. Bonadonna’s work has won many awards, including the International Dinosaur Illustration Contest of Museo da Lourinhã in Portugal, and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s John J. Lanzendorf PaleoArt Prize for his work on Diplodocus carnegii.