Fossil Feud: The Rivalry of the First American Dinosaur Hunters

Rating:
Summary: Fossil Feud is an informative and entertaining book.
Review: Mr. Holmes's love affair with, and possibly his night dreams (hopefully less traumatic than those of Mr. Cope) of dinosaurs reach embodiment in Fossil Feud. A result of over ten years' research, this book is informative and easy to read. The text is not only child-friendly but educational for adults like myself who have had little previous exposure to these fascinating creatures of yore. Mr. Holmes's scientific and historical exploration is detailed without being tedious, leading to a smoothly flowing narrative (as a historical writer, I know how difficult this can be!) I found the use of period photographs and drawings and the illustrations of Mr. Clement to be very engaging.

In addition to explaining the benefits and liabilities of scientific research as lived out by Messrs. Cope and Marsh, the author provides many other useful features within the covers of Fossil Feud. Mr. Holmes gently encourages the reader's further exploration of dinosaur lore by including a list of rules for what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur, diagrams of basic anatomical and physiological features of a dinosaur, a geologic time line, a listing of the 335 genera of dinosaurs in the order in which they were discovered, a reading list, and a listing of North American dinosaur museums.

Fossil Feud is a valuable tool, both educational and entertaining, which leaves no stone unturned, as it were, in its goal of completeness and accessibility. I highly recommend it.