The original 1946 "Life Through the Ages" was created by Charles Knight, one of the most familiar paleoartists of his day. That text offered a personal and beautifully illustrated look at the animals of the past and present. It seems absolutely fitting and appropriate that this volume be followed up by a sequel of equal magnitude, containing over 70 years of new scientific understanding.
What makes this book especially rewarding is that, in contrast to Charles Knight, the author Mark Witton is a paleontologist as well as a paleoartist. While Knight had an unparalleled talent for drawing and painting realistic depictions of wildlife, he was never formally trained in paleontology and was guided under the direction of those who were (though Knight had claimed his knowledge was equal to that of his supervisors). He often let much of his personal inexperiences and biases slip through his writings, particularly his favoritism towards mammals and seeming distaste for reptiles, influenced by the opinions of the day. Witton's book, thus, retains a certain level of professionalism in that he combines his mastery of fleshing out prehistoric environments with a long history of rigorous scientific work by both himself and his colleagues. He treats all of his animals, from microbes to mammals, with much respect, care, and attention. This is not to criticize Knight too harshly: he had acquired a very powerful understanding of mammal anatomy through dissection and personal observation, to the point where he could qualify as a scientific expert on the subject.
"Life Through the Ages II" is like no modern popular book on prehistoric life that I have ever seen. In retaining the exact format of the original book, Witton delivers a unique reading experience. While I can say much about the 'windows into the past', I must make note that the text itself is rich in valuable information. The introduction alone offers a fascinating historical view of Knight and his work, and the main text accompanying the plates gives a fairly comprehensive overview of the history of life that does not bias too heavily on dinosaurs and mammalian megafauna (which I understand was a deliberate choice by the author). Readers are treated to summaries of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution, the coevolution of plants and insects, and the life-histories of obscure Paleozoic tetrapods, as well as the usual accounts of the End-Cretaceous Extinction Event or the evolution of Homo sapiens. Thus, no aspect of prehistory is left uncovered. The text (I feel) is readable to all audiences regardless of prior understanding and may even serve as a good higher introduction to people curious about paleontology.
On to the art itself. Each plate has its own atmosphere and rewards the reader by not being the same old monotonous tour of evolutionary history. Only small minority of animals are depicted fighting and killing each other: organisms rest, graze undisturbed, rear their young, or simply just observe their surroundings. An array of beautiful and colorful landscapes grace these artworks, with deep blues, rich reds, and hazy greens clothing our subjects. While the text is enormously valuable and a great bonus, I can understand if artists (and not just paleoartists) buy the book to enjoy the imagery alone. (On that note, if you enjoy Mark Witton's paleoart please consider supporting him by donating to his patreon: https://www.patreon.com/markwitton).
I find it difficult to find anything particularly negative to say about this book that is noteworthy. I'll mention that I thought it was a bit disappointing to see such a high amount of mammals depicted in the Cenozoic pages versus other organisms, but I'm going to counter this by mentioning that the text itself betrays this fact: while one artwork may depict charismatic big mammals, the text urges us to consider, say, the foliage or invertebrate life and its ecology and evolution rather than just on the mammals themselves. I'm curious if others came to his conclusion as well.
One thing that I consider so special about "Life Through the Ages II" is that Witton has devoted much of the text and imagery towards disseminating information regarding the current environmental crisis. He wastes no time discussion the issues regarding overfishing, the wildlife trade, and anthropogenic climate change. In a remarkably smart choice, Witton ties these themes towards the larger understanding of Earth history, because we only know so much about the effects of this crisis because of the research on paleontology. It is my hope that works like this help inspire people to join the ongoing action to stop the devastation of the natural world and care about the organisms that live around us.
All in all, I would consider "Life Through the Ages II" among the best books on paleontology for this current century, for its comprehensive and authoritative scope, beautifully realized artwork, and simplistically effective layout. Please consider (as Witton himself suggests in the text) purchasing the original book as well, so you can compare and contrast the two works together. An inspiring and lovely book.
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![Life Through the Ages II: Twenty-first Century Visions of Prehistory by [Mark P. Witton]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51foly8duaL._SX260_.jpg)
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Customer reviews
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Amazon Customer H
Okay paintings
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2020Euan Donald
LIFE THROUGH THE AGES ... In Brief
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2020HydrogenLogic
Life Through the Ages II
Reviewed in Germany on September 11, 2020
HydrogenLogic
Reviewed in Germany on September 11, 2020
Witton's artwork is beautiful to look at, full of details to admire and scrutinize. Apart from the accuracy and beauty, the composition of the elements within the artworks inspires the imagination and transports one back to these vanished worlds.
Minor gripes (that neither detract from the experience nor warrants removing stars):
- I would have loved the plates to be larger & more of them
- There are quite a few spelling mistakes
The book is highly recommended to anyone interested in prehistory/paleontology and paleoart, from (in my opinion) one of the greatest in the field (with the added bonus of the artist being an actual paleontologist).
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Christine
Lovely Book, something for everyone!
Reviewed in Germany on April 14, 2020Alessandro Giucastro
Un altro splendido lavoro scientifico e artistico, da non perdere per chi ama la paleontologia.
Reviewed in Italy on July 14, 2020Customers who bought this item also bought
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