Last of the Giants: The Rise and Fall of Earth s Most Dominant Species - Softcover

Campbell, Jeff; Grano, Adam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1942186045 ISBN 13: 9781942186045

Publisher: Zest Books, 2016

Synopsis

Today, an ancient world is vanishing right before our eyes: the age of giant animals. Over 40,000 years ago, the earth was ruled by megafauna: mammoths and mastodons, saber-toothed tigers and giant sloths. Of course, those creatures no longer exist, due to the evolution and arrival of the wildly adaptive human species, among other factors. Many more of the world's biggest and baddest creatures - including the black rhino, the dodo, giant tortoises, and the great auk - have vanished since our world became truly global. Last of the Giants chronicles those giant animals and apex predators who have been pushed to extinction in the modern era.

About this title

About the Author

Jeff Campbell, author of Daisy to the Rescue (2014) and Last of the Giants (2015), is a writer and book editor who has enjoyed a diverse 25-year career in publishing. He was an award-winning travel writer for Lonely Planet for over a decade, coauthoring a dozen travel guides, including several editions of USA, Hawaii, Florida, and Southwest. As a book editor, he has specialized in nonfiction, notably helping to develop four of Dr. Marc Bekoff’s books on the emotional lives of animals, which inspired his passion for his own writing about animals. Currently, Jeff is also a part-time creative writing teacher for grade school students in Morristown, New Jersey, where he lives with his wife and children.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up—The extinctions of giant (both in size and number) species at the mercy of nature and humanity turn out to be a fascinating and jarring lesson for our present. Chronicling the fates of aurochs, moa, passenger pigeons, and sea cows, alongside the unresolved destinies of today's lions and tigers, this work gazes back at evolutionary history through a retrospect that, with the aid of Campbell's humorous and scientific tone, is truly 20/20. Thankfully, the text's explorations of these annihilated species are complex and perceptive and go beyond the usual worn conclusion of human-wrought woe. Mixing geology, ethnography, history, zoology, biology, industry, and sociology, Campbell demonstrates how interconnected Earth's species and societies—human and nonhuman—are. By examining the complex web of evolution through the misfortunes of these lost species, the author drives home that our present is not a final, linear result of history but rather an ever-evolving system that needs care and attention. To that end, a "Call to Action" section laden with resources for the aspiring activist appears at the end; though there is no index, an extensive list of works cited illuminates a path for those who wish to read further. VERDICT Required reading for the budding naturalist and a good pairing for a STEM or history curriculum, too.—Chelsea Woods, New Brunswick Free Public Library, NJ

Edition details

• Publisher: Zest Books
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1942186045
• ISBN 13: 9781942186045
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272