The Untold Story of a Lost World
Illustrated by Davide Bonadonna
New foreword by the author
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.
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˝
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.
‘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.
Dive into the captivating world of ancient life with this Folio edition of The Rise and Reign of the Mammals by Steve Brusatte. Featuring an introduction by the author, this edition also showcases breathtaking paleo-art by Davide Bonadonna and is the sequel to The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs.
No book has revolutionised our view of life on earth more than Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Yet its enduring popularity is a testament to the immense energy and startling simplicity with which Darwin makes his revelations.
The book that launched a phenomenal global franchise, Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park is a rip-roaring, fact-filled, rollercoaster read and this illustrated Folio Society edition is the T-Rex of them all.
Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist Edward O. Wilson’s classic account of evolution and biodiversity remains as relevant as when first published in 1992. The Folio edition of The Diversity of Life features wonderful colour wildlife images and a foreword by Bill McKibben.
