The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World

Those dinosaurs. The most terrible animals on Earth disappeared 56 million years ago. They continue to be one of the major mysteries of our world today. Their amazing 200 million year history is now revealed in The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, a book that has never been published before.

In this captivating narrative (enlivened with more than seventy original illustrations and photographs), Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field—naming fifteen new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork—masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a book for the ages, captivating and illuminating.

From their unfortunate beginnings as small shadow dwellers—who themselves were the beneficiaries of a mass extinction brought on by volcanic eruptions at the beginning of the Triassic period—Brusatte traces the evolution of dinosaurs into the dominant array of species every wide-eyed child memorises today, including T. rex, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, and more. In the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, when millions of species flourished and winged and feathered dinosaurs—the ancient relatives of current birds—emerged, this talented scientist and author recreates the height of the dinosaur era. The narrative continues until the end of the Cretaceous era, when a massive comet or asteroid impacted Earth, causing almost all dinosaur species—though not all—to go extinct. This was the most remarkable extinction event in Earth's history, and it offers valuable lessons for us now as we prepare for the impending "sixth extinction."

Brusatte also recalls compelling stories from his globe-trotting expeditions during one of the most exciting eras in dinosaur research—which he calls “a new golden age of discovery”—and offers thrilling accounts of some of the remarkable findings he and his colleagues have made, including primitive human-sized tyrannosaurs; monstrous carnivores even larger than T. rex; and paradigm-shifting feathered raptors from China.

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is an exciting scientific history that uncovers the epic drama of the dinosaurs. It will be a definitive and beloved account for many years to come.