Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future [Hardcover]

Dougal Dixon (Author), Philip Hood (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (September 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312035608
• ISBN-13: 978-0312035600
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #844,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Three And A Half Would Be Better, January 13, 2004

By 

Zekeriyah (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future (Paperback)

I must admit that I'm somehwat surprised by the controversy surrounding this book. It certainly isn't as good as his other works (the New Dinosaurs, After Man and the Future is Wild) but it certainly isn't a terrible book either. It seems that most people dislike it either because it leans so heavily towards sci-fi/paranormal (mainly via psychic powers and genetic engineering) or because it degrades humankind. Honestly, if you have no problem with sci-fi influences or with a pessimistic attitude towards human nature then you probably won't be too offended by this book.

Like all of Dougal Dixon's books, it starts out with a brief history of homo sapiens and our ancestors. The short accounts of us are given in a first person fashion, departing from his other works but I didn't find them to be hard to follow. He then gives an evolutionary chart for the various species in his book. The book then starts two hundred years in the future, as a rift develops between the upper and lower class humans, and the genetically modified servants. Another century later, their descendants are examined. Then it jumps ahead to 500 years from present, when genetically modified humans are created to repopulate the earth (from which most large animals have been exterminated) and upper class humans are kept alive through machines, while lower class humans resort to communal agriculturalism. Another five hundred years and we come upon an earth on the brink of disaster, as both the high-tech mechanical societies and agricultural communities fail while the genetically modified humans in the wilderness survive.

The book keeps going showing the various twists and turns taken by the genetically modified humans, as they evolve into strange new organisms. Psychic powers, symbiosis, parasitism, aquatic lifestyles and social colonies all evolve, and vaguely humanoid creatures colonize tundras, plains, jungles and other environments. Ultimately 3 million years into the future these creatures come closer to animals like mammoths, slothes, jerboas and sabretooth tigers than humans. The book closes out at 5 million years, when the descendants of upper class humans sent to space colonies return to earth, genetically modifying and exploiting their "cousins", and ultimately laying waste to the earth. But there is still survival, and life goes on in strange new forms.

Ultimately I found this book to be an interesting concept, though not on par with his other works. Still it was a nice experiment in sci-fi for Dixon, and if you're a fan of the genere then you will probably appreciate this book. If reading this review you decide that you wouldn't like it or would find it offensive, then don't bother tracking it down. Trust me, its out of print and usually expensive to buy. Thats about the best I can say for this book. I appreciated it, but others out there might not feel the same way, so just read my review and consider whether or not it sounds like you would like it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it., August 22, 2002

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future (Hardcover)

Being a lover of history, Man After Man, really is something I enjoyed. It is about the changing face of mankind and future history, something I enjoy very much. Many people complain that timeline and stories seemed confusing and that the artwork is not that great. First off, I didn't find them at all confusing and the artwork was there to help the reader picture the beings that mankind have become NOT to win any awards or prizes. Don't compare the book to others, just enjoy it. It is NOT a serious piece of work.
I do wish it had been longer and had touched a little more on the changes to the other animals and the plantlife. It would of padded out the book more. I wanted more details!

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I gave it three stars because it's by Dixon., June 3, 2003

By 

"ferretclaw" (ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future (Hardcover)

The other reviews on this book are a mixed bunch. While most of Dixon's readers loved his other books - After man and the New Dinosaurs, most agreed that this book was a dissapointment in comparison to the other two. But a few reviewers loved it. I bought it anyway. When I first saw the cover, I didn't know what to expect. The book's start is a sort of review of all of man's ancestors, the same type of introduction in all of Dixon's two other books. Then it breaks into bizzare and implausible entries and drawings of genetically modified monsters that were disigned to repopulate the ravaged earth. The illustrations are often dismissed as "bad". And some are. I could have drawn them, if I wasn't too worried someone else would see them and wonder what twisted thoughts passed unseen through my mind. But many weren't so bad, it was just the content and design. Most were completely ridiculous. And the entries on each species. I don't even want to talk about them, but I have to, since I am writing this review. The entries make no sense. While reading the other reviews, I thought, "Poorly written? Dixon isn't capable of that". But he is. The entries start out at a completely random point. About nothing at all can be discerned about each species. If the author had just written straightfoward entries about each species, instead of random events in each creatures life. "Coffee table book"? Ha! I wouldn't leave this one on a coffee table if my life depended on it.