Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion [Paperback]

Michael Taylor offers an elegantly written, compellingly readable account of the culture war between the guardians of orthodoxy and the agents of change. . . . The result, Mr. Taylor writes in his fine book, was a decadeslong culture war . . . over humanity itself. Taylors discussions of Huxley and Darwin are among the best sections in his ambitious, readable, and informative book. This splendid history of discovery tells a much-told tale better than it has been told before. [ In this stunning work of popular history, historian Michael Taylor shows how the discovery of dinosaurs triggered a domino effect that shook the foundations of Western culture. A most engrossing book of surprises and revelations. An astonishing book about an extraordinary subject. Michael Taylor tells the story of the collision of science and religion in an age of change with authority, wit and verve. A delight. An account of the discovery of deep time that is as thrilling as it is sweeping, populated by a brilliantly drawn cast of characters, and vivid with a Mesozoic bestiary. Amazing. . . . Taylor paints the complex picture of the fundamental tension between religion and geology through the nineteenth century with verve and humor. . . . An important story that still affects us today. This book confirms what I've suspected for a while, that Michael Taylor is the most talented young historian around. This book dazzles in its originality and there is something you want to commit to memory on every page. A triumph. A truly marvelous book: superb research and a sparkling narrative dramatize an epic battle of ideas and an intellectual thriller. Michael Taylor succeeds in reanimating those famous dinosaur wars of the nineteenth century with real brilliance, and makes them as fresh and furious as ever. Exuberant, stylish and brilliantly sustained throughout. A sweeping account of the discovery of dinosaurs and the horrifying depths of time, and their impact on god-fearing Victorians.lCÔ