Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Review of "Lost Animals, Extinction and the Photographic Record" by Errol Fuller, Princeton University Press, 2014.

I was recently contacted by Princeton University Press and asked if I would be interested in doing a book review of Errol Fullers' new book "Lost Animals, Extinction and the Photographic Record". I immediately accepted the invitation, as Mr. Fuller is extremely famous for his books on Extinct and Endangered Species. I was told that I had to tell my reading audience that I did get a copy of the book for free and that I was not told what to write and to give my complete honest opinion as an expert on the Passenger Pigeon and other Extinct Species. I patiently waited for the book to arrive and after reading it, my opinion is a simple one >> DO NOT buy a single copy of this book, instead buy TWO. This book is amazing, it truly is. He covers 28 different species in the book, from the Passenger Pigeon to the Laughing Owl and just about everything in-between. The photographs are haunting, you cannot but feel sad at the loss of such beautiful creatures by the ignorance and stupidity of man. He gives a brief general history of each species and its demise and this is followed by the photographic evidence. The book is written in everyday language and will appeal to both the "layman" and the "expert". The photographs are amazingly disturbing, in many cases some species were only photographed once or twice and that is all we have left of them. Mr. Fuller hit it on the nail with this book. It literally tugs at ones heart strings to think that what you are looking at is all we have left of these beautiful creatures. My major complaint with this book is that it wasn't longer. It leaves you longing for more but sadly this is all there is. This is all that exists. My expert opinion is simple DO NOT buy a single copy of this book, instead buy TWO. This book needs to be shared. These photographs need to be seen and these beautiful and long gone species need to be remembered. I highly recommend Mr. Fullers' book, you can purchase a copy (or two) by clicking below :