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  • The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

  • A New History of a Lost World
  • Written by: Steve Brusatte
  • Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
  • Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (249 ratings)

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The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

Written by: Steve Brusatte
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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Publisher's Summary

A sweeping and groundbreaking history of the age of dinosaurs, from one of our finest young scientists.

The dinosaurs. 66 million years ago, the Earth's most fearsome and spectacular creatures vanished. Today their extraordinary true story remains one of our planet's great mysteries.

In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy. Captivating and revelatory, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a book for the ages.

Brusatte traces the evolution of dinosaurs from their inauspicious start as small shadow dwellers - themselves the beneficiaries of a mass extinction caused by volcanic eruptions at the beginning of the Triassic period - into the dominant array of species every wide-eyed child memorizes today, T. rex, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, and more. This gifted scientist and writer re-creates the dinosaurs' peak during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, when thousands of species thrived, and winged and feathered dinosaurs, the prehistoric ancestors of modern birds, emerged. The story continues to the end of the Cretaceous period, when a giant asteroid or comet struck the planet and nearly every dinosaur species (but not all) died out, in the most extraordinary extinction event in earth's history, one full of lessons for today as we confront a "sixth extinction".

Brusatte also recalls compelling stories from his globe-trotting expeditions during one of the most exciting eras in dinosaur research - which he calls "a new golden age of discovery" - and offers thrilling accounts of some of the remarkable findings he and his colleagues have made, including primitive human-sized tyrannosaurs; monstrous carnivores even larger than T. rex; and paradigm-shifting feathered raptors from China.

An electrifying scientific history that unearths the dinosaurs' epic saga, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs will be a definitive and treasured account for decades to come.

©2018 Stephen Brusatte (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What the critics say

"Patrick Lawlor's narration injects Brusatte's enthusiasm into the informative writing.... Listeners who love dinosaurs will thrill to the latest developments in their history." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not bad

Some parts were good. A lot of it felt like dinosaur porn. Would've appreciated more factual comparisons and less colourful wordage about how badass the trex was. The author also had some kind of hangup about the size of the arms of the trex.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

If you're big into dinosaurs you'll love this book. only wish it came with a visual download so if curious you could see an image of the dinosaurs being discussed. really enjoyable

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Finkle is Einhorn. Einhorn is Finkle.

I knew everything about dinosaurs... in 1990, when I was 7. As it turns out, a lot of stuff has been found and figured out since then. The author is modest but has clearly been involved with some remarkable progress and discoveries. The dinosaur naming has gotten weirder, and probably harder to follow as audio than as writing, but it's not so integral to the plot. I won't spoil how it ends...

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story telling

Great storytelling in this non-fiction book. Brusatte grabs interest and makes the topic digestible and enjoyable for the everyday reader.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Infotainment for Dino nerds

Never have I been so enthralled with the story of our world and the greatest creatures to ever roam it. An entertaining narrative told through a personal and informative viewpoint that was both nestalgia enducing and riveting.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very informative

Fun listen, leaned alot of new things and debunked some myths I previously believed. 10/10!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Dino-mite!

A pretty solid synopsis of where our knowledge of dinosaurs sits today. Not as dry as one would think either.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My new favourite book

As a kid, I loved dinosaurs, but as an adult I kind of put that behind me. Listening to this has rekindled my love for dinosaurs, and given me a deep understanding and respect for the collective work put in over hundreds of years that has allowed this book to be written.

I love this book, I listened to it back to back, as it has so much interesting information that you can easily miss in the first listen.

If you want to quickly be brought up to speed on everything we know about dinosaurs and how we know it, this book is a great diving point, definitely recommend.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Not Impressed

Unfortunately, after over 2 hours of listening, there just isn’t enough information about dinosaurs. In many parts, it feels more like a brief history of paleontology. I’m not sure if I’ll even finish it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A fun read!

I would warn that this book includes several anecdotes about famous palaeontologists and the world of palaeontology and is not just a book of dinosaur facts. The book is still super fun and witty and tells the story of the dinosaurs in a fascinating and digestible way. Very worth the read!

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