Land of Lost Monsters: Man Against Beast--The Prehistoric Battle for the Planet

Rating:
Summary: Land of Lost Monsters: Man Against Beast-The Prehistoric
Review: "Land of Lost Monsters: Man Against Beast - The Prehistoric Battle for the Planet" written by Ted Oakes with Amanda Kear, Annie Bates, and Kathryn Holmes is a book the chronicals the BBC series of the same name and has some brilliant photography work associated with it. This chronilogical narrative takes us on a jouney as to what our ancestors must have seen as they began to migrate from Africa to all parts of the Earth.

"Land of Lost Monsters" takes us on a prehistoric journey throughout the world as man moves to find different parts of the globe through exploration and the animals that they met along the way. The book is divided into sections or chapters covering man's exploration as follows:

Africa
Australia
Europe
New World
Islands

Each of these sections reveals to the reader what early man found upon landing in these areas, and whether man was the hunter or were they prey according to what was found in these different areas. I found the book to be a very easy read and it is geared toward the young reader with inherent knowledge toward exploration and the dangers that accompany it. The book is appointed with very well placed photographic illustrations annotating and emphasizing and evoking interest to the subject matter at hand.

But during the last stages of the Pleistocene epoch, the most amazing creatures started to disappear, victims of a mysterious extinction. The scale of the vanishing is startling: South America lost 80 percent of its large animal genera, North America lost 73 percent, Eurasia 30 percent, Australia lost 86 percent, and the oceanic islands lost a staggering 95 percent of their large birds and animals. So what happened to the Earth's monsters? The answers are within the pages of this book and they make sense, but imagine this... killer plagues, climate changes, and human arrival all played a part and you'll read as to what extent each played.

"Land of Lost Monsters" is a solid 4 star book and is written for the lay-person to easily understand and keep your interest. There is an adequate further reading index if you want to learn more about this subject and the index is comprehensive. I liked the book for it's readability and it's logical presentation with plausible answers to the questions posed making this book a fast and interesting evocative read.