The Secret Life of Bones

The Secret Life of Bones is a new popular science treatise on all things bone and skeletal by natural history writer (and paleontologist) Brian Switek. Released 8th Aug 2019 by Prelude books, it's available in paperback format. It's unclear from the publishing info available online, but the eARC I received also has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

The book itself is split into 10 chapters plus an erudite and entertaining introduction, each containing an anecdote and history around which framework the stories are woven. Covered in the book are Grover Krantz (famous anthropologist and proponent of bigfoot as real), the undying rivalry between Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, the discovery of English king Richard III buried under a car park lo, these 550 years since, and confidently identified through the magic of DNA analysis, along with several others. 

This is a wildly entertaining book, scientifically accurate and layman accessible. I really enjoyed reading about some of the methods used by modern anthropologists and paleontologists along with the scientific background involved. This would make a really good read for fans of natural history. 

Four stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.