The subtitle pretty succinctly describes the contents of this book. Taking you from Archbishop James Ussher’s calculations of the age of the earth as based on the Bible, to the discoveries of Mary Anning in Lyme Regis, to Charles Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle, to the founding of the Natural History Museum in London - with a massive cast of historical characters and events populating the moments in between - this is an entertaining account of the scientific progress of nineteenth-century Britain and the conflict between the newly emerging ideas around evolution and the religious beliefs of Christianity. I am sure that scholars of the era could provide you with a more detailed and accurate review of this work, but from a reader who was simply seeking an easy-to-read introduction to the subject, this book worked perfectly! Page-turning, interesting, and simply entertaining, ‘Impossible Monsters' was a compelling ride that I would happily recommend.