A fun, quick read piece of narrative nonfiction that brings to life the race to recover the first T. rex.

If you love narrative nonfiction about the Bone Wars, this is a fun next step chronicling events that happened afterward and the quest to bring home a T. rex to the Natural History Museum in New York.

The book is, by extension, a history of the early days of the museum as well, in addition to the accounts of how it got its now famous T. rex.

This is a history book rather than a science book, focused more on the collection of specimens, the battle to get to them first, and museum and expedition financing. There’s some explanation of the paleontology involved as well, but the primary focus is on human interest and interaction with the bones rather than the bones themselves.

This reads well for nonfiction, fast paced and intriguing, and correctly structured for narrative format. Though the personalities involved in the race for Rex aren’t exactly likable for the most part, they’re certainly interesting.

I highly recommend the audiobook format for this book. The material translates well to the format and the narrator is excellent.

This book was a look at the dinosaur hunters more so' than the dinosaurs, and it was really interesting to read the stories of the ambitions, jealousies, feuds, and celebrity sparked by the early days of hunting dinosaur fossils in the wilds of the west and presenting them to a newly dinosaur crazed public in New York. There were some large, power hungry personalities in early paleontology and it was delightful to learn about the good and (quite) bad sides of their personalities and lives.

Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Monster’s Bones
by David K. Randall

This was a very informative read showing

the beginning of fossil discovery

how they were sourced

the fight over credit

as well as first and second hand accounts of the men and women involved in the discoveries

publishing of the theories as well as the studies involved

Full of many facts and so much information not only on dinosaurs but the people who fell in love with them, discovered them, and gave them not only a name but a place in our worlds history

A bit of a dry read I’m not gonna lie there’s not much humor this is straight to the fact type of information

I gave this book 3 stars

I would recommend this to anyone who loves dinosaurs fossils archaeology in his up for a very studios and informative read.

Thank you net galley and the author for the copy of the audiobook from my honest review

This is such a fascinating and well-done audiobook. As a parent of small kids, I get a lot of dinosaur content and it never ceases to inspire. This is well worth the read/listen for anyone who is interested in dinosaurs or history.

This book was really good! I enjoyed all the stuff about the leadup to the discovery of the T-Rex and how PT Barnum and other hucksters were detrimental to the process but also kinda sparked initial interest. There was a lot of cool things to learn about here. I wish it was longer!

The Monster's Bones by David K. Randall is a captivating exploration of early American paleontology and the history of American museums. With the voice of a true story-teller, Randall shares the tale of Barnum Bailey and how he grew from a small town collector into one of the most famous paleontologists whose discovery of the first tyrannosaurus helped shape American museums as we know them.

An amazing book, which I leaned a lot from about the history of searching for dinosaur bones.

I discovered some cool fun facts such as:

- J.P. Morgan funded the summer of 1899 to encourage anyone to locate complete dinosaur skeletons for the American Museum

- Lewis and Clark documented and collected dinosaur fossils.

The audiobook is recorded well. Definitely recommended!

This is one of those nonfiction books that is set up like a story, which is always good to see. I read this on audiobook, and I quite liked the narrator! I’m not super interested in paleontology, but this book made me a brief expert. I learned a lot about the history of museums and paleontology. Four stars.

Fascinating read. Learned a lot in a fun way. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook

Absolutely riveting history of the major names of Paleontology. I loved how far the narrative of this book ranged, while still being absolutely gripping. this book acts as a history of political developments in the US through the men who established the study of fossils and dinosaurs, and ties in things like P.T. Barnum's circus, Abraham Lincoln's visit to the first American museum, Carnegie's philanthropy, the hiring practices of princeton, etc. I love it. Thank you!

Exciting!

The Monster's Bones is the story of Barnum Brown and Henry Osborn, two men who although very different played a significant role in building my love (and the worlds really) for T. Rex.
The book was great as it gave an informative history of the two fascinating men but also taught me about the history of museums, paleontology, and what goes on behind the scenes when fossil hunting.

Super interesting and I highly recommend this book to anyone with the love for dinosaurs that want to learn more about the history and what goes into finding these amazing fossils.


Thank You to David K. Randall and HighBridge Audio, for the audio-digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Have you ever been to a natural history museum? Do you know anything about the most famous “dinosaur finds” in the world? Well, this is all about that.
It is simple breathtaking and shocking to gaze upon a skeleton of a dinosaur that’s bigger than a house.
This book retells in vivid detail the discovery and proof of fossils. It was like a vocal tour! I could see everything.
The book took me to Patagonia, Montana and several museums.This historical tour was interesting and delightful. I also learned about the people who relentlessly search for them and felt like I knew them after listening to this. I highly recommend it if you love history, especially dinosaurs.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and it was narrated by Roman Howell who was excellent and it’s 9 hours and 13 minutes long.
Thanks HighBridge Audio via NetGalley.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!

The Monster's Bones is an account of the discovery and subsequent exhibition in the Natural History Museum in New York City of the first Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. The book focuses in on Barnum Brown, the discoverer of the fossils. However, there is also a lot of attention paid to the fossil hunting scene in general, as well as the rise of museums in importance and prominence. My one criticism is that the account of Brown's life in particular seems to take forever to get started and is then rushed through quite quickly. I'm not sure if a slight shift in focus would have helped alleviate this, or if it is maybe just my own perception. However, overall it was enjoyable and I would recommend it to fans of US History and general nonfiction.

The Monster's Bones is the story of Barnum Brown and Henry Osborn, two men of vastly different backgrounds and temperaments who were nevertheless essential to the discovery and popularization of the T. Rex. Throughout the narrative, the reader learns not only the history of Brown and Osborn, but the history of museums, paleontology, and the burgeoning field of evolution,

In the monsters bones by David K Radel, we find out how the age of the dinosaur came to be. From amateurs to Yale professors. The most intriguing was the story of Brown and Cohen inter-backstabbing underhanded things they did just to try and be the first architect of the new dinosaur. Backstabbing wasn’t strictly between those two however, one of the most renowned scientist in Britain also to Credit fun things he received from a Welch girl who scoured the beaches by her home for specimens. They also Head stories like the country Doctor Who was so close to reaching the greatness he dreamed of and then became paralyzed. I love books like this and thought this one was better than most. It really reads like a Hollywood script and I guess that’s why they say truth is stranger than fiction. I loved the narrator and thought he sounded like such a fun person and not to mention his narration who is great. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves nonfiction at its best. I was given this book by net galley and I’m leaving this review voluntarily. please forgive any errors as I am blind and use dictation to write my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

What an absolutely fascinating story this was! I listened to this one, and it's the first non-fiction book I've done in audio. I wasn't sure if it would work well, since my attention wanders more with audiobooks, since I tend to multi-task while listening. I was worried that a non-fiction story, requiring more attention to detail, might be problematic and I would find myself floundering to keep the details straight. Not so at all with this incredible tale from David K. Randall!

The Monster's Bones is that best of all possible worlds in non-fiction (to me anyway): truth that reads like fiction/a novel. The tale is engaging, informative, and full of quirky characters, treasure hunts, and even P.T. Barnum! I found the notion of a pre-dinosaur world fascinating and bizarrely incongruent - yet, obviously, there was a time when 65 million year old bones were not a part of the common parlance. In equal parts educational and entertaining, Randall spins a yarn that encompasses literal millenia. Along the way, he interjects with spin-off details and stories that flesh out the overall tale of one man's quest to bring the first T. Rex skeleton to the American (actually, world) public.

It was a mesmerizing story, made all the more entertaining and engaging by the wonderful narration by Roman Howell. Howell does a magnificent job bringing the characters to life and presenting their distinctive personalities through vocal variations that were clear and easy to follow without ever devolving into melodramatic - even when the subject matter of their expeditions and adventures were!

It was a marvelous journey and I've been recommending it left and right!

The Monster's Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World
by David K. Randall
Narration by Roman Howell

This seemed well researched and very informative but written in a way that kept me interested from the very beginning to the end. The book read more like a novel than a historical account with just facts. This book was filled with emotion, intrigue, treachery, love, the excitement of discovery, and fear of defeat. Wonderful real characters that felt alive and intriguing.

This book mainly has two characters but it discusses many more that is involved in the movement of starting a great museum, what should go into it, and the great bone race. Also, how the dinosaurs bone race started, who was involved, and when is explained in here. It really was exciting if you love history, dinosaurs, and fate!

Its really amazing how this boy from a farm, Brown, became such an intricate part of the dino preservation and discovery history. How he got his name and who he met during his life too!

I found this book very interesting and I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this awesome book! I learned so much! I have read a lot about the bone wars but this took me into personal lives and let me experience it from a whole new perspective!
The narration was excellent!
Thanks again! Highly recommend!

"In the battle for life on Earth, the climate always wins."

3.5 stars

Your enjoyment of this book will depend on what you are expecting. If you are looking for an in-depth look at the discovery of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, you will be disappointed. That is barely covered in the last chapter, and certainly not with any real scientific insight. If you are looking for a general book on America's beginning interest in dinosaurs, with light breezy sometimes sort of funny commentary, and the wealthy elite who made this possible- this book is for you. While I found a few details about museum creation and the selling of Sue and Stan enjoyable, overall I was looking for a more focused academic nonfiction about what the title promised.

I listened to the audio, which if you like slow audio, this is for you; but if you need speed, you should note that the voice just becomes broken and distorted after 2.0 speed forcing the listener to but it down to a (for me) glacier pace.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been fascinated by dinosaurs and the first thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a paleontologist. Unfortunately, the thought of actually having to dig the bones up out of the dirt deterred me. Fortunately, the fossil hunter Barnum Brown was not deterred and he found many fossils, including three examples of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its display in the American Museum of Natural History made, and continues to make, the museum a must-see destination.

I enjoyed this book, but I really wanted more about the dinosaurs and the fossil finding expeditions and less about the biographies of the womanizing Brown and of Henry Fairfield Osborn, the wealthy head of the museum. I hadn’t known that Osborn was a white supremacist who made sure that his opinions were reflected in the museum’s displays. Interesting detail, but I want dinosaurs. The book also describes the various rivalries among the fossil hunters (and the institutions that financed them) and the intense pressure to find an attraction to shore up the financial status of the museum. The audiobook was narrated by Roman Howell. He read each sentence like it was describing the most momentous event ever. It wasn’t. 3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

I enjoyed this! I've always been a big Jurassic Park fan, so this was an excellent non-fic read. While the story does drift back and forth chronologically at the beginning, which confused me at times, the narrative had a nice flow. The research was spot on, peppered with conversational observations that at times made me laugh out loud. It's very well-placed and very unpretentious for a book about such a scientific topic. Randall did an excellent job of humanizing all of the cast, making them more than a biography blurb and really explaining how they got into the positions and circumstances that led to the first T. Rex skeleton.

I listened to the audiobook, too, and the voice was very nice. I especially liked the subtle changes when quoting different people.