Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party

How an Eccentric Group of Victorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World

By: Edward Dolnick

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

From the bestselling author of The Clockwork Universe and The Writing of the Gods, an “utterly delightful…hugely entertaining” (Air Mail) book about the eccentric Victorians who discovered dinosaur bones, leading to a whole new understanding of human history.

In the early 1800s the natural world was a safe and cozy place, or so people believed. But then a twelve-year-old farm boy in Massachusetts stumbled on a row of fossilized three-toed footprints the size of dinner plates—the first dinosaur tracks ever found. Soon, in England, scientists unearthed enormous bones that reached as high as a man’s head. Outside of myths and fairy tales, no one had even imagined that creatures like three-toed giants had once lumbered across the land—nor dreamed that they could all have vanished, hundreds of millions years ago.

In Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, celebrated storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true adventure as the paleontologists of the early 19th century puzzled their way through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we know today. The tale begins with Mary Anning, a poor, uneducated woman who had a sixth sense for finding fossils buried deep inside cliffs; moves to William Buckland, an eccentric geologist who filled his home with specimens and famously pieced together a prehistoric scene from the fossil record inside a cave; and then on to the controversial Richard Owen, the era’s best-known scientist, and the one who coined the term “dinosaur.”

“Exuberant” (Kirkus Reviews), entertaining, erudite, and featuring an unconventional cast of characters, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party tells the story of how the accidental discovery of prehistoric creatures upended humanity’s understanding of the world and its own place within it.

Critic reviews

"Golden Voice narrator Cassandra Campbell handles this nonfiction audiobook about the discovery of dinosaur bones in the early 1800s as effectively as she does the contemporary novels of Judy Bloom and John Grisham. Her brisk, commanding, highly flexible voice maintains its hold on the listener’s ear even while traversing species names and fossil characteristics. A mismatched assortment of amateur geologists, baffled scientists, and determined Bible scholars provides Campbell with a rich narrative, often droll, always informative and insightful. The listener’s tool here is the benefit of hindsight. Today we know these were prehistoric creatures, not victims of the Great Flood, and that the world is millions of years old. But in the decades before Darwin that was unwelcome news."

The culture and mindset that was the bedrock.

The book only got better and better and the players curiouser and curiouser. Much like Galileo’s Daughter, Mr. Dolnick did a remarkable job in stage setting. You could almost hear minds turning and grappling. The characters came in and out of the story but it was easy to keep track of the many individuals as they were vividly written. Fun and interesting and I can almost see the Crystal Palace. Bravo to the reader who was a plus. And a wonderful book! Thank you Mr. Dolnick!

Interesting history

Provided a good perspective on the challenges and world view of Victorian natural history. Excellent narration

Reconciling Physical Evidence with Long-Held Beliefs

This was a very enlightening book, not just in the details of scientists and fossils, but in its overview on how geology and paleontology transformed the way people thought about the natural world. From literal readings of the Bible, to the normalization of interpreting scripture with broad strokes, this book shows how people (Europeans and their descendants specifically) have made sense of the world that they lived in.

Wonderful narration of an awesome history

Great story telling about an intersection of animal science and human culture. Couldn’t put it “down.”

Missed key details

This book missed key details of the lives of Owen and Mantel. It missed details of the other luminaries as well.