Evolution: The Whole Story

Books on subjects like this normally seem to fall into one of two groups - either they're picture books or wordy books to be read from cover to cover. This one seems to be a pretty good attempt to combine both ideas. At first sight it might seem to be a picture book, but the text goes beyond the extended captions you often get in such a book. The standard of the photographs and illustrations is generally excellent and the picture editor has done a great job. The quality of the reconstructions is variable (they come from various sources) but some of them are superb. With some of the recent animals I was initially fooled into thinking they were actually photographs. There are some good ideas such as frequent listing of timed key events across the bottom of the page that provide a quick to read summary, but I found some of the captioning methods (such as repeating sections of a main image with an unnecessary navigator) a little gimmicky.The format of the book is a series of 'features', each covering two or four pages, so it's probably easier to read sections as you wish rather than cover to cover. Features deal with individual species, larger groups and general evolutionary science and history, and I quite like that the author of each section has been credited. The style is easy to read and requires no prior knowledge - it gives a good overview of life in the past and keeps the science very simple, so won't suit those wanting to get to grips with evolutionary biology. There is a good coverage of vertebrates, less so of invertebrates, and less still of plants. This is maybe to be expected, and is probably an accurate reflection of popularity.Overall a great quality book, very informative, and good to read or use as a reference.

This tells a fascinating story in a very accessible manner getting the balance right between graphic representation and scientific analysis. My adult son loves it.

Very interesting book. Very well set out. Lots of photographs, and the illustrations are fantastic. It is the kind of book that can be read from cover to cover, or you can just dip in and out of it. It is very thorough, covering everything from extremophiles to Dinosaurs and horned gophers to Mammals. I would recommend this book.

An enjoyable read. I found it informative and was impressed by the illustrations. I would like to point out that although I ordered the hardcover version, I received something that I can only described as being a flexible hardcover bound book. A cross between paperback and a hardcover.

Full and fascinating account of life on earth. Wonderful photos and illustrations.One tiny quibble - it's very heavy, because it has so much in it, but not easy to read in bed!Brilliant browsing and a serious reference book.Would suit anyone from a small child who loves dinosaurs through to college-level researchers.One of my best buys this year. Thoroughly recommended.

Used this book to help me understand mammalian evolution for a uni assignment. Really good explanations and diagrams. The wording is so consise anyone could understand it. Definitely recommended this to all my peers at uni.

The scope is huge so even though it has over 500 pages each topic is given an introduction based on scholarly research. The thousands if colour illustrations are very well reproduced and how they manage to offer the book for little more than the coast of a few magazines I don't know. Buy a copy now while it is still in print and you will have a reference work that will last for decades.

I like this book. Bought this for my son to show him prehistoric animals, there are nice pictures. Also there is quite a lot of interesting information for adults too, so this book will serve for quite a long time, I guess

Oh my gosh! Where to start? First, know that as a book almost six hundred pages long and hardbacked, it isn't light. However, the moment you open it up to any random place you know major care has gone into its creation. Photos and high-resolution paintings are everywhere! It really strikes a nice "sweet-spot" balance between a purely academic book and one that is accessible enough for any enthusiast. I honestly look hungrily through it as I flip through its pages, so many pictures, and close-ups, and yet so much information surrounding them. It is a nice balance between what will draw you to a particular item visually, and the explanation beside it. This might be the most completely accessible book I've seen on the subject.Evolution: The Whole Story, starts from the beginning with Early Life, before moving on to Plant, then Invertebrates, then Fish and Amphibians, to Reptiles, to Birds, and finally to Mammals. Each of these sections also subtly remind you what section you're in with a common color theme. So, for instance; for "Early LIfe" the color is yellow. Small little sidebars have a very light yellow background, and the timelines being covered are a light yellow. When you go to "Plants" it's a very light blue. None of it is intrusive. It's very subtle and sparingly-used (not like a kids book), but unifies each section. It's certainly not a distraction. I only happened to notice it myself when looking at the Table of Contents and noticed the different colors beside the headings. Only then, after leaving through it again, did I realize the correlation.I really cannot recommend this highly enough. In one place is so much clearly explained and laid out. I like how Dawkins books read, but this book seems geared toward an audience that have read his books and want a bit more. In this, I think it suits quite well. You can tell the people that put this together did so with great passion and love for the subject. If there's anything lacking in this book, I think I'd have to point to the section on Early Humans. In a book almost 600 pages long, there's only about 20 dedicated to Man. Outside this, I'm entirely pleased. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I’m only on p. 60 of this magnificent 576-page book. And it’s taken me many hours to get there…hours spent not only reading and thinking but also looking stuff up in Wikipedia. My enthusiasm won’t allow me to delay my review for the month it’ll take me to finish it. For this fills my long unfelt need for a clearly described and excellently illustrated history of the evolution of living things. There are informative reviews by Michael Birman and others on the US Amazon. I’ll limit myself to saying I’m tempted to get copies for everyone I care about – and may, since the price is bizarrely low – so they can share my sense of wonder at the story of the unfolding and proliferation of life on our planet.

I love this book. Its an encyclopedia text book. Really interesting, glossy pages. The print is rather small and faint, but overall I would recommend the buy. I actually purchased the wrong book as I meant to get Human Evolution which my original order/seller could not deliver. But nevertheless, am extremely happy with this purchase. Great info on our planet. An interesting and captivating read.

Super! Das Buch hat meine Erwartungen übertroffen. Gut geschrieben, klar, vollständig und mit schönen Bildern. Klare kaufempfehlung. Gefällt auch den Kindern

Excellent ouvrage qui présente un panorama synthétique de l'histoire de la vie sur Terre. L'introduction par Alice Roberts n'est pas une petite référence et assure la qualité du texte.Les nombreux bas de pages "key events" sont particulièrement intéressants; ils fournissent un cadre pour fouiller sur Internet. Le rédactionnel est clair et concis et les illustrations judicieuses et très attrayantes, rendant le livre facile à lire.Il me semble particulièrement bien suivre les problèmes actuels de taxonomie, cladistique ou phylogénétique et s'adresse plutôt à des universitaires au fait de la biologie, la paléontologie et sciences annexes. Sa compréhension demande la connaissance préliminaire de notions sérieuses dans ces domaines, mais pour celui qui les possède, la lecture de cet ouvrage est un régal.