An interesting look into famous skeletons including when/where/how they were uncovered and what they represent culturally. I've always been interested in anthropology and enjoyed learning about famous finds like Lucy (which is one of the skeletons covered in this book) so I was eager to learn more! However this one fell a little flat for me. At times I found myself zoning out and had to go back to reread sections. The writing felt a little bit jumbled as well. I also wonder why she included the Piltdown Man when there are others that could have been written about that may have more cultural relevance? Overall I thought the idea was interesting but the execution wasn't what I was hoping for.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. As a scientist at heart, this book was super interesting and something I'd been wondering about for a long time. A great read.

Perhaps I should have realized this book couldn't do too much of a deep dive by its very length: at under 300 pages, there's only so much that can be said. However, what is said is done with a light sense of humor and is very approachable. I think Ms. Pyne does a good job of giving the background of the seven skeletons discussed; I just would have enjoyed even more info on the topic! So I think this is a good intro on the subject, and will look around for other works that go a little more in-depth.

This one was mildly interesting, but just not for me. (2-star review on Amazon)

I was always interested in anthropology and paleoanthropology, and read anything I can get my hands which concern the topics. The idea of ​​finding collected in one book the seven most famous fossils in the world is very intriguing, as is Pyne's intriguing approach: Why, of all fossils discovered in the world those seven are so famous, and the other not ? The narrative covers infinite factors, ranging from the discovery's modality to the publication's procedures, the narrative itself, even the myth, built on single fossil, including the Piltdown man, a famous hoax which, at many years' distance, we have not yet discovered the author. However interesting is the book, it has a fairly serious flaw, and it is the repetitiveness: some passages seem to be written by copying and pasting from one section to another.
Thank Penguin Viking and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.