Impossible Monsters

One of the most interesting stories in the world … brilliant … told with brio and humour, but not without a sense of the pathos of Doubt … I relished every word – A. N. Wilson * Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year *Excellent … Everything that popular scholarly history should be … written with clarity, zest, and wit – Piers Brendon * Literary Review *Impossible Monsters captivatingly outlines how the unearthing of strange bones toppled traditional understanding of the origins of the world … rather miraculous – Roger Lewis * Telegraph **** *Marvellous … Impossible Monsters is a work of remarkable range. Taylor … belongs to that rare class of writers who can effortlessly encompass both scientific arcana and intellectual currents. It is also to his credit that he every so often takes us away from the high tables to show us what ordinary people made of these huge strides in thinking – Pratinav Anil * Guardian *Eminently readable and well-researched … He writes well, knows his subject and has a fine eye for detail * Spectator *Such an attractive book … a sympathetic, charming, beautifully written guide through a pivotal part of history – John van Whye * BBC History Magazine *In writing Impossible Monsters, the task of Michael Taylor … was to tell a much-told tale better than it had been told before. He has succeeded splendidly … Mr Taylor also conveys a sense of just how risky it was to believe in and promulgate the new ideas tied to the rocks and tropical forests where people hunted for specimens * Economist *Skilfully blends an impressive array of sources into a highly readable, almost novelistic narrative. In particular, it features many women who played crucial roles but are too often invisible … Including gripping tales as well as serious commentary, Impossible Monsters chips out a fascinating slice through the strata of Victorian society * History Today *The emotional impact on the Victorians … was profound … Taylor recounts not just the interventions of palaeontologists and geologists but also those stricken by events as their faith evaporated … he marshals his cast expertly and shows lucidly why it mattered so much * New Statesman *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

Michael Taylor is an historian of colonial slavery, the British Empire and the British Isles. He graduated with a double first in history from the University of Cambridge, where he earned his PhD - and also won University Challenge. He has since been Lecturer in Modern British History at Balliol College, Oxford, and he is currently a Visiting Fellow at the British Library’s Eccles Centre for American Studies.