Customer Reviews

On The Track Of Unknown Animals

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The "Father of Cryptozoology" wrote most of this book in French in 1955, and it remains as important today, as it did then. Furthermore, the master chronicler of as-yet-to-be-discovered animals has an updated introduction for this edition. A must for your cryptozoology collection, this book should be in every library, public and private, around the world.

For those of you who do not know Mr. Brenard Heuvelmans (1916-2001) was one of the true pioneers in Cryptozoology (study of hidden animals) "On the Track of Unknown Animals" is certainly a must for those who find this topic interesting.
In 2003 Jerry D. Coleman released his book continuing on the work of Heuvelmans in "Strange Highways", also found here at Amazon.com. It was "Strange Highways" open, logical, fresh story's that peeked my interest in this subject.
You couldn't go wrong reading them both.

A magnificent text that can be difficult to get your hands on. If you see it then BUY it.

Quite simply Heuvelmans reviews 'crptids' and breaks them down, analysing sightings, discussing possible explanations and then concluding with logic on an identity.

Of most interest to non-cryptozoologists is the lengthy list of creatures to have been discovered since 1900. White rhino, Giant Forest Hog, Komodo Dragon, Okapi. A more modern list would also add the megamouth shark and the various animals of the Vu Quang region of Vietnam.

When it comes to Cryptozoology, there still is no better source than Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans, the man who penned the phrase, literally. I never considered the existence of the Yeti as anything more than a mythological cartoon character, until my discovery of this book in my High School library, some 36 years ago. And there still is no other work that approaches anywhere near it, for pure captivating reading, over-and-over again. I'd recommend this book to anyone, even the staunchest skeptics. From the Yeti to Orang Pendeks, Marsupial Tigers to Nandi Bears, the volumes of research will astound. Better than reading any novel about Lost Worlds and experiments with DNA. These represent real worlds, and possibly tens-of-thousands of creatures just waiting for serious scientific attention. Will make a believer of many for certain. One drawback though, no mention of Bigfoot, or any other American cryptids for that matter. Not even in the more recent revisions. But still worthy of the highest rating.

The pricing on this book is ridiculous for a reprint. Bring the price down. Hardly nobody will be paying 100+ dollars for a book in today's economy.

Along with Ivan Sanderson's 'Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life', Bernard Heuvelman's book is a classic in the study of cryptozoology.
With exhaustive (not exhausting) detail, the stories, sightings, and first-hand encounters are given real life - and not the glancing and often very questionable information in lesser works in the field. The book is not 'up-to-date' it is true but newer developments can be found on the internet and in various journals. Besides, who needs to 'update' any great literature!

Heuvelmans has written an absorbing work that falls just short of masterpiece stature. The scope of the coverage is breathtaking, revealing the author's encyclopedic command of the field and unmistakably belying his tremendous enthusiasm for the material. From the outset, I would argue that the opus is more "archaeozoological" than "cryptozoological," as the author tends to devote nearly all of his attention to the details and history of collection of evidence for this cryptid or that, and upon the associated sociological phenomena (e.g., folktales, taboos, sculptures), than he does to ecological analysis of the theorized creatures' ontogenies within their respective biomes. The work reads almost like a compendium of forensic dossiers: for each cryptid he treats, Heuvelmans carefully narrates the historical accretion of man's evidentiary knowledge base-even to the details of each relevant archaeological expedition, whether splendidly fructiferous or gut-wrenchingly frustrating. Of particular note, Heuvelmans turns unsuccessful hunts into positive experiences, arguing how even failure to find this or achieve that adds monotonically to scientists' knowledge bases. Other aspects that are equally indicative of the author's love for his material include the proliferation of hand-drawn illustrations: while clearly no artist, he has striven to provide visual aids-even as minor as a small piece of skin or a vague scrimshaw on narwhal tusk-wherever they might prove edifying.

On the critical side, I may level two accusations that do not go very far toward pejorating the work. Firstly, taken from a continent-by-continent perspective, the coverage is not balanced. Although cryptozoological mysteries-and the oral and/or literary traditions that are often associated therewith-besprinkle the entire globe, the author devotes precious little attention to the boreal zones and none whatsoever to North America! Secondly-and, indeed, this is intertwined with the sparsity of North American coverage-Heuvelmans says next to nothing about sasquatch or some of his cryptohominid cousins, e.g., the central Asian almas and the Australian yay-ho and lo-an (although he most thoroughly dissects the evidence for and against the yeti). But, just perhaps, this second omission can be blamed upon prevailing undertones in the academic community: specifically, it was not until the 1958 incidents in logging camps in rural northern California that the "bigfoot" phenomenon began to attract serious attention.

My 5th grade son asked for a book about cryptozoology for Christmas, so I recently bought this book after being pointed to it by various reviewers (of other books) on Amazon. It seemed bizarrly expensive--and I felt obnoxiously indulgent buying it--but I can now report it is worth every penny. My son has been glued to the book for a week now and is on his way to memorizing the whole thing. The reading level is adult but a smart kid, fasinated with the subject, will rise to the challenge and chew through all 4 inches in no time.

A book i first read thirty years ago. I'm in amazon looking for a third copy, for my kids. ( the other two copies having being misappropriated by over-ardent book lovers.} If i was only allowed to own 6 books, this would be one of them.

After 40 years this book is always the best work about cryptozoology. An immortal masterpiece.