Customer Reviews

Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're interested in dinosaurs -- and who isn't -- you will be blown away by this magnificent book. It's a great companion volume to the TV special on the Discovery Channel, and a terrific book on its own. The text is well written, informative, and comprehensive to us lay readers, and the pictures of dinosaurs are so real that you almost forget they are computer-generated images; they look ready to walk right off the pages into your living room. I especially liked that along with the more familiar standbys such as Diplodocus, Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus, Tim Haines introduces us to dinosaurs most of us didn't know about before, such as Placerias and Postosuchus from the early Triassic period; Ankylosaurus, who could knock a Tyrannosaurus bowlegged; and Liopleurodon, a marine monster who looks like he could chomp a small whale in half and finish off with a couple of great white sharks for dessert. Haines presents the argument for warm-blooded dinosaurs very convincingly and his theory is backed by the recent discovery of a four-chambered fossilized dinosaur heart in South Dakota. He presents the dinosaurs not as museum fossils but as living beings who breathed, ate, slept, excreted, reproduced, and survived attack, and where the evidence is scant, his suggestions for filling in the blanks are so rational that we feel we are sharing a typical day in the life of a prehistoric animal. The photographs of the natural environment the dinosaurs lived in help bring the whole era to life. The final pages, which describe the crash-landing in the Caribbean of the asteroid that terminated the Mesozoic era, are written so vividly that we can almost visualize the flash of light in the distant horizon and feel the shock wave that spread over most of the earth and ended the age of the dinosaurs. This is a wonderful book for the whole family which will be read and referred to over and over again.

What an absolute delight! H.G. Wells would be proud of a time machine like this book. It is not simply WALKING WITH but almost LIVING AMONG DINOSAURS. I have always been a fan of drawings and paintings of dinos but this book surpasses all I have seen before. The landscapes are partly original nature photos which depict a lush vegetation of a world long gone and make wonderful backgroung for the beasts. And the beasts themselves... well, there are no flaws (like a slightly misplaced or twisted limb) like the ones you may occassionally find on paintings - the computer generated graphics make sure of this. The animals hold themselves in a natural way showing grace of motion instead of the robust awkwardness we just about a decade ago thought were their way. The pictures themselves are of superb quality and the text really gives you a lot without using too much unintelligible jargon for the layman. The questions of extinction, cold- or hot bloodedness, reproduction etc. are all addressed. I only had one point of sorrow - a book like this cannot be long enough. But until someone develops a real time machine, we have to make do with this book - and it is worth the try!

Tim Haines' "Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History" is simply awesome. As a dino fan for several decades, I am truly impressed. I've read many dino books and this one rates with the very best.

Mr. Haines leads us through the day to day existance of various ancient creatures from their emergence through their mysterious vanishing. Each of six segments examines either a specific time period, species, or type (aquatic, airborne) of animal.

The text is vivid and engrossing, especially the chapter describing the dinos' ultimate demise. The illustrations are taken from the video of the same name and are stunning.

Perhaps Mr. Haines did take a bit of poetic license in creating the story lines, but since none of us were around at the time, his explanations are certainly as plausible as any other.

In summary, if you or someone you love is any kind of dino fan, this book is a MUST!

If you enjoyed the incredible television series on the Discovery Channel, then you simply *have* to add this book to your library. It has *beautiful* pictures with great quality publishing from reknown publisher, Dorlington Kindersley. It's first class up-to-date, informative text makes this now one of the most interesting books I own. Let this book make a dinofan out of you (if you're not already)! And just for good measure, get the DVD or Video too :-) The book is a SIMPLY FANTASTIC!

You've watched the shows,now it's time to read the book. " Walking With Dinosaurs: A Natural History" shows your how dinosaurs survived in the harsh, prehistoric worlds.

The book is divided into six chapters, each chapter based on the successful T.V series. Each chapter starts off describing the world at that period of time and it also starts off by introducing you to each prehistoric creature that will be featured in that particular chapter.

Unlike most dinosaur books, this book is more of a work of fiction. Each chapter is actually a short story of how the creatures survived and occasionally, there are small chunks of facts to read.

Overall this is more of a scientific storybook book rather than the usual " dinosaur-factbooks". The most stunning feature of this book is its pictures. While most dinosaur books features hand drawn pictures, this book instead, is armed with "photographs" of dinosaurs.

To fully immerse yourself in the prehistoric world of dinosaurs, I suggest you get this book now... before it becomes extinct !

Walking with Dinosaurs - A Natural History is the companion book to the BBC series of the same name. This is an excellent book, and I've already read it three times now. It captures the sense of "walking with" the dinosaurs just like the series. (which is also excellent) That isn't too surprising, seeing as how the series producer, Tim Haines, is the author. And he is a good one, you really feel as if you're observing the creatures you're reading about. It follows the programs almost precisely, but there are some new elements that are very fun to read.

Also, there are many information boxes that tell you how they know what they know, or what they're basing their speculation on.

As equally good as the text are the photographs. Using the same CGI models and animatronics from the series, almost all the pictures are brand new. There are some pictures straight from the programs but at least ¾ are completely new, and they look incredible. They look completely real, you feel as if they took pictures of real dinosaurs and various other prehistoric creatures.


Chapters: (there are a few slight differences between the chapters and programs, the different program titles will be in parenthesis)

1. NEW BLOOD

2. TIME OF THE TITANS

3. A CRUEL SEA (CRUEL SEA)

4. BENEATH A GIANT'S WINGS (GIANT OF THE SKIES)

5. SPIRITS OF THE SILENT FOREST (SPIRITS OF THE ICE FOREST)

6. DEATH OF A DYNASTY


This book is a perfect companion to the series, highly recommended!

I loved the television series on the bbc, the book is great but I thought that "In the presence of dinosaurs" by time-life book was even more increadible. The oil paintings in that book rival the computer generated "Photos" in this book and exceed them. You know what, buy them both if you are a fan of the jurassic. But buy "In the presence of dinosaurs" first.

This book is the best dinosaur book I've ever read! It has lots of cool photos(which are as real as dinosaurs get)and the information is stunningly useful and cool. Also, there is plenty of blood, for you gore lovers, and all sorts of fighting, mating, eating, moving, and roaring among every dinosaur, be it carnivore or herbivore. I should add that the carnivores are as nasty as they should be, and the herbivores are as tough as they should be. If you like dinosaur stuff, then this book is for you. I highly recommend it to anybody 12 or older. It's a cool book, and it has more cool prehistoric animals along with dinos, too. In the sea, air, and on the land.

My almost-10-year-old grandson, a self-declared future paleontologist with a large collection of dinosaur books and a wide knowledge of dinosaurs, thought this was the best Christmas present I gave him. What further recommendation would anyone need?

Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History is the best book om dinosaurs I've ever read. The "photographs" of the different dinosaurs and the nice little side-boxes with lot's of infomation make it great! The fact files are well-done, too. The six different chapters are wonderfull. First of all there's New Blood, then Time of the Titans, then A Cruel Sea, then Beneath a Giant's Wings, Spirits of the Silent Forest and last of all Death of a Dynasty. One point, though, there IS allot of killing babies. That's what prevents me from giving it 5 stars. Anycase, well worth buying. Oh, by the way, I also have Walking with Beasts: A Prehistoric Safari, Land of Lost Monsters: The Prehistoric Battle for the Planet and Chased by Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Predators of the Deep. They are all great! Get em' now!!! I also must say get the film, too.