Description

Impossible Monsters is the captivating story of the discovery of the dinosaurs and how it upended our understanding of the origins of the world.

‘An astonishing book about an extraordinary subject’ PETER FRANKOPAN
‘As thrilling as it is sweeping’ TOM HOLLAND
‘This book dazzles in its originality . . . a triumph’ SATHNAM SANGHERA

In 1811, a twelve-year-old girl uncovered some strange-looking bones in Britain’s southern shoreline. They belonged to no known creature and were buried beneath a hundred feet of rock. Over the next two decades, as several more of these ‘impossible monsters’ emerged from the soil, the leading scientists of the day were forced to confront a profoundly disturbing possibility: the Bible, as a historical account of the Earth’s origins, was wildly wrong.

This is the dramatic story of the crisis that engulfed science and religion when we discovered the dinosaurs. It takes us into the lives and minds of the extraordinary men and women who made these heretical discoveries, those who resisted them, as well as the pioneering thinkers, Darwin most famous among them, who took great risks to construct a new account of the earth’s and mankind’s origins.

Impossible Monsters is the riveting story of a group of people who not only thought impossible things but showed them to be true. In the process they overturned the literal reading of the Bible, liberated science from the authority of religion and ushered in the secular age.

‘Truly marvellous … an intellectual thriller’ RICHARD HOLMES
‘A stunning work … of surprises and revelations’ STEVE BRUSATTE

*An Economist, Times Literary Supplement, Bloomberg and Waterstones Book of the Year 2024*

Publisher Review

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 — SATHNAM SANGERA, author of Empireworld 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 — PETER FRANKOPAN, author of The Earth Transformed A truly marvellous 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 19th century with real brilliance, and makes them as fresh and furious as ever. Exuberant, stylish and brilliantly sustained throughout — RICHARD HOLMES, author of The Age of Wonder 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 — STEVE BRUSATTE, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs Tremendously entertaining. Michael Taylor brings to splendid life the scandal and skulduggery that ensued as Victorian society came to terms with the existence of the shockingly unbiblical dinosaurs — CATHERINE FLETCHER, author of The Beauty and the Terror 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 — TOM HOLLAND A sweeping account of the discovery of dinosaurs and the horrifying depths of time, and their impact on god-fearing Victorians. Taylor marches us with panache from Bishop Ussher’s impossibly young world to today’s incomprehensibly old planet. We feel the awe and fright across society as the vast reptilian empires are brought to light — ADRIAN DESMOND, author of Darwin’s Sacred Cause Brilliant, entertaining, noteworthy — BEN MILLER, actor and comedian Eloquent and authoritative, we’re shown how the discoveries of ancient reptiles shook the very foundations of conservative nineteenth-century Britain — PAUL BARRETT, Natural History Museum An extraordinary and important tale of a seismic moment in intellectual history. Epic in scale yet intimate in detail, Taylor’s Impossible Monsters is a masterclass in combining peerless erudition with superb storytelling — MATTHEW PARKER, author of One Fine Day Amazing … Taylor paints the complex picture of the fundamental tension between religion and geology through the nineteenth century with verve and humour … An important story that still affects us today — MICHAEL BENTON, author of The Dinosaurs Rediscovered