Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews & the Central Asiatic Expeditions

by Charles Gallenkamp, Michael J. Novacek (Foreword)

The New York Times science editor John Noble Wilford has called it "the most celebrated fossil-hunting expedition of the twentieth century." Led by the world-renowned explorer Roy Chapman Andrews and financed by J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Childs Frick, and a host of other wall Street titans, the Central Asiatic Expeditions (1922-1930) comprised the most ambitious scientific venture ever launched from the United States. Under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History, Andrews conducted five expeditions to the last uncharted corner of the world: the Gobi Desert of Outer and Inner Mongolia. Using automobiles supported by camel caravans, Andrews' expeditions stumbled upon unimagined scientific wonders: the Flaming Cliffs, dinosaur egges, the first skeleton of Velociraptor, and a treasure trove of other dinosaurs and extinct mammals.

In Dragon Hunter, Charles Gallenkamp vividly recounts these extraordinary discoveries and the unforgettable advantures that attended them. Filled with astonishing tales of Andrews and his team braving raging sandstorms and murderous bandits, enduring civil wars and political intrigue, and reveling in the fascinating world of Peking's foreign colony, Dragon Hunter also traces the religious controversy over evolution and the anti-imperialist conflicts involving China, Mongolia and the United States that were sparked by Andrews' expeditions.

Gallemkamp tells Andrews' incredible life story - from his beginnings as a floor sweeper at the American Museumm to his international fame as one of the century's mot acclaimed explorers. The result - lavishly illustrated with original photographs from the expeditions - is a thrilling page-turner, an epic search for fossils cloaked in a sweeping historical narrative.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Science, Palaeontology, Dinosaurs, Adventure

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Description: Archaeology. Lavishly illustrated with original photographs from the expeditions---is a thrilling page---turner, an epic search for fossils cloaked in a sweeping historical narrative.

Opening: "I was born to be an explorer. There never was any decision to make. I couldn't do anything else and be happy... The desire to see new places, to discover new facts - the curiosity of life always has been a restless driving force in me."

The interest for me was seeing how the careers of Younghusband, Larsen, Hedin and Andrews crossed to a backdrop of history containing the Russo-Japanese war, Pu-yi (The Last Emperor), WW1, communist take over of Outer Mongolia. All this without me even mentioning the main purpose of the book, namely the dinosaurs.

A soupçon shy of 4*



The Blue Tiger, also know as the Maltese Tiger, is, as the name would suggest, a blue tiger that has historically been reported mainly in the Fujian area of China

The Flaming Cliffs of the Gobi desert discovered by Dr. Roy Chapman Andrews in 1923.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is unforgiveable that it took nearly three-quarters of a century for Roy Chapman Andrews - who was so thoroughly and rightfully lionized throughout the entire 1920s - to get the full biographic treatment he so richly deserves.* But at last, here it is. Or was, since this was now published a full 20 years ago; and while the details of Andrews' life haven't changed, the book (or at least its epilogue) could use a major update, based on the discoveries that continue to come out of China - and the vast Gobi Desert in particular - on a regular basis.

For those who have heard of Andrews over the past 20+ years, it's most likely as "the role model for Indiana Jones," a widely if perhaps erroneously held belief, (as George Lucas has denied it; and quite frankly, it is perhaps a connection that Andrews himself might be wise to reject today, as the tomb-raiding Dr. Jones isn't aging particularly well in this era of "Pandora Papers" and the resulting backlash against museums - and their "suppliers" - worldwide over the amount of stolen artifacts they continue to display - Benin Bronzes, anyone?). And indeed, the book itself goes to lengths to highlight the difference between Andrews - who was solely pursuing scientific knowledge in terms of dinosaur and mammalian evolution, (even if most of his discoveries ended up back at the American Museum…such were the times) - and such contemporaries as Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin, who are remembered now more for looting treasures that should rightfully be returned to China.

Anyway, this was just a fascinating overview of a man I have long been in thrall of; and while I've known of Andrews' adventures for years (although being the meticulous planner that he was, Andrews hated the word adventure, believing that "adventures are a mark of incompetence" in a well-prepared scientist or explorer), I had never appreciated just how intimidating they truly were. The usual one-sentence description - "RCA went into the desert and came out with a ton of cool new stuff, including the first proof that dinosaurs laid eggs" - totally glosses over the extent of both his discoveries and the hardships he endured to achieve them. His Central Asiatic Expeditions, which ran sporadically from 1921-1930, took place during the height of China's post-imperial upheavals, when the countryside was awash with bandit gangs and warlord armies, and Mongolia was just coming under the sway of a newly-Communist Russia. As a result, Andrews and his various teams partook in a near unending series of running battles, both bureaucratic and literally "bang-bang!"

As literature, this book doesn't quite rise to the level of such contemporaneous feats as Patrick French's epic Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer,** and towards the end it does get bogged down a bit in day-by-day descriptions of "and then they drove here and found that." That said, this remains a riveting tale from beginning to end, covering not only Andrews' most famous work in the Gobi, but also his earlier museum work as an expert on whales, explorations in Korea and the South Pacific, and other - I gotta say it - adventures. Gallenkamp himself provides the perfect summary with his very last paragraph, (where even he couldn't avoid using "the A word" - twice):

"The Central Asiatic Expeditions - hampered by war, politics, and bandits, and working in total isolation without the benefit of modern technology - will always remain one of the grand adventures in the annals of exploration...In terms of romance, daring, and sheer audacity, we will never see the equal of his grand adventure again."


___________________________________

* "Adult biography," that is, since there are in fact several books about Andrews aimed at younger readers - including (but not limited to ) Secrets from the Rocks and Tracking Dinosaurs in the Gobi - because what kid don't love dinosaurs? And of course, there are Andrews' own multiple quasi-autobiographical books, written throughout the course of his career.

** GOTTA COME CLEAN HERE: As evidenced by many of my other books choices, (and eclectic "hero" bookshelves), I'm a great admirer of such other 19th-20th century scientist/explorers as Ernest Shackleton, Alfred Russel Wallace, Teddy Roosevelt, Peter Fleming, and - in particular - the "noted English explorer, soldier and mystic," Francis Younghusband. Indeed, when I was much younger and goofier, I even went to so far as to name my sons after "Roy and Frank," hoping to provide them with some built-in, lifelong role models; and so to their never-ending chagrin, my boys are now and forever known as Myles Younghusband L., and William Andrews L. So you can imagine my delight (or perhaps not), when I learned here that not only was a young Andrews influenced by Younghusband's early explorations in Manchuria and China (later writing "it had been his book [the classic The Heart of a Continent] and encouragement…that had sent me on my first land expedition and forever changed the direction of my life"), but also in 1914, the Museum hosted a reception for Younghusband, after which he and Andrews remained good friends until the former's death in 1942! Woot-woot!!

(And weird as it may sound to give my son "Younghusband" as a middle name, it was also oddly fated. Long after naming him, I learned that he and Younghusband shared the same birthday; and on our one family trip to London, we unintentionally stayed at a low-end hotel which only on our departure did we notice was situated just next door to "Younghusband House." Finally, in reading French's excellent biography, I also learned that Younghusband's daughter was named Eileen, and his wife was Louise - the names of my mother and grandmother respectively. SO WHO'S CRAZY NOW??)

(QUICK UPDATE: So...turns out the chagrin did have a limit, as my older son - an aerospace engineer - recently named his own first son "Isaac Yeager L.,”after the immortal Chuck. So apparently this is a family tradition now. Eccentricity marches on!)

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.

This book is not about hunting dragons. It's about looking for dinosaurs. This is evident from the jacket flap, so I knew it before starting; I just wanted to toss it out there so everyone knows it's a non-fiction biography of Roy Chapman Andrews, focusing on his time fossil-hunting in the Gobi Desert, and not a fantasy story about a guy who hunts dragons. The title evidently comes from the nickname "dragon hunters" bestowed upon Andrews' expedition by the Chinese and Mongolians he encountered, who supposedly thought that fossils were dragon bones. I'm always a little bit skeptical when a Western book cites eastern "superstitions," because I'm never quite sure if the superstitions are legitimate or simply an elaborate joke played on gullible foreigners--especially when the author appears to have used only English-language sources, many of them by Andrews himself. Still, you can't deny that it's a good title, so I guess we'll let that one slide for now.

This was an entertaining book. It doesn't really drag, except for some excessive listing of names. Honestly, I have no idea who was "high society" in New York City in the 1920s, and I certainly don't keep track of the employees of museums, so these lists meant absolutely nothing to me--the names went in one eye and out the other, and I don't really know if they were of any importance at all. I mean, they were obviously supposed to convey how important Andrews was, since he was associated with those people, but aside from a couple really big names (Rockefeller and Roosevelt, for example) they were essentially meaningless. However, the accounts of life for foreigners in China, Japan, and in the Gobi were very interesting, as were the stories about Andrews' exploits before he went to the Gobi, such as his extensive studies of whales.

That said, this is a White Man's book. By that, I mean that the native Chinese and Mongolian members of the expedition, or those who worked to help make it a reality in the government, are almost completely missing. Gallenkamp addresses the terms "boy" and "coolie" near the end of the book, explaining that they weren't really all that derogatory at the time because the Chinese used them, too, so I'll give him that. However, it's pretty easy to see that without the aid of the Chinese and Mongolians, the expeditions would have gone nowhere. Not only that, but even out in the Gobi, Andrews was not usually forging new trails, but being pointed in the right direction by native nomads. Still, Gallenkamp holds to the spirit of imperialism in insisting that Andrews was the first person to "explore" the great "unknown." Just because an area is mapped doesn't mean it's unknown, you know. It might actually mean that people know it so well they don't have to rely on a map. That said, this isn't an intentionally racist book. It tries to be neutral, and it's relatively successful on that front. Obviously Gallenkamp is a huge fan of Andrews, and I'm not really sure if he's leaving out any negative aspects that might cast a different light on the story. As with all nonfiction books, I think it's good to remain a bit skeptical when reading it--every author has an agenda, after all.

A good read, but not a compelling one. If you like fossils, explorers, or anything like that, you'll probably like this.

3 out of 5 stars.

[Bill Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was engrossed from beginning to end while reading this book. That is my reaction. See other reviews for descriptions.

[Erin Cadwalader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever wanted to know more about the full bureaucracy involved with running a museum or organizing a massive international expedition into unmapped lands in Asia? Then this is the book for you. Roy Andrews led a fascinating life and became one of the last explorers of great celebrity. He set out to explore the Gobi Desert less than 100 years looking for the origins of man in that part of Asia and instead found an enormous cache of dinosaurs of the Cretaceous, including Raptors, and enormous early mammals that seem like caracateurs of modern day ones. All of this occurred during a tumultuous period in Chinese history which I previously knew little about. Somehow, though, it just seemed like they were wandering endlessly in the desert, offroading in automobiles I'm amazed didn't just shake apart. Somehow this one seems like an Indiana Jones movie that's all about his curriculum prep.

[Book Riot Community]

Dinosaur fossils. The Gobi Desert. Indiana Jones-ish adventures. Are you intrigued yet?? Here, Gallenkamp tells the story of Roy Chapman Andrews, an employee at the American Museum of Natural History who successfully launched and led a series of wildly successful expeditions into the Gobi Desert (Inner and Outer Mongolia) during the 1920s. And while he was seeking to prove his mentor’s theory that modern humans originated in Asia, he instead uncovered, with the help of his talented team, innumerable dinosaur and mammal fossils, as well as dinosaur eggs in various stages of development. Supported financially by both America’s wealthy elite and an enthusiastic general public, Andrews and his team dodged and fought bandits, wrangled with politicians in China and Mongolia for entry and excavation rights, and introduced to the world many new dinosaurs and mammals that would otherwise have remained much longer under the shifting sands of the Gobi. An engrossing listen. (Audiobook) — Rachel Cordasco


from The Best Books We Read in April: http://bookriot.com/2015/05/01/riot-r...

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you remember your movie trivia, you know the slogan: “If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones!”

Well, long before fedora-wearing, revolver-toting Harrison Ford traveled to the far reaches of the world looking for lost antiquities, there was Roy Chapman Andrews. Many believe that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg patterned their celluloid adventurer after this charismatic American explorer-scientist.

Sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History and wealthy patrons, Chapman organized and led the Central Asian Expeditions: a series of five trips into uncharted territory in remote China, Mongolia and the Gobi Desert enduring “blistering heat, icy blizzards, sandstorms, snakes, flash floods, marauding bandits, civil war, political intrigue, thievery, bribery.” Along the way they discovered many treasures including the fossil-rich Mongolian “Flaming Cliffs” and the first fossilized Velociraptor later made famous in another Spielberg movie.

Excellent biography. Fun armchair adventure story.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the summer of 1966, when I was an 11 year-old boy, I read a juvenile book called All About Dinosaurs by Roy Chapman Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I was totally enthralled about what I read, about the excavation of dinosaur and mammal fossils in the Flaming Cliffs section of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Well finally, at the age of 65, I read the whole story of Andrews’ expeditions into the Gobi, in this wonderfully descriptive and detailed book by Charles Gallenkamp. Little did I realize as a kid all the difficulties Andrews and his team of scientists had to endure and overcome, such as sudden sandstorms, hordes of bandits, sleazy and corrupt bureaucrats, renegade soldiers, you name it. Andrews was able to endure it all, and his adventurous and intrepid personality, reminiscent of Indiana Jones, won out in the end after 5 summers in the inhospitable but fossil-rich Gobi Desert. I learned so much from this book, and Gallenkamp’s highly descriptive and intelligent prose was highly entertaining in a book I didn’t want to end.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all the Indiana Jones movies. And the goofie Adventurer's Club at Disney World. So it was fun to read about a real live Indiana (from Wisconsin) who stormed about Mongolia unearthing treasures in the romantic days of the 1920s--when the real Explorer's Club still met regularly. This guy was remarkable to say the least. But unlike Indiana, he was also a planner-he used to remark that "adventures are a mark of incompetence" i.e., if you planned well, things should go without incident-easier said than done. The author does a great job hitting all the high points and keeping the story flowing; found it to be a great read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roy Chapman Andrews, some say, was the inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones. It's easy to make the connection when you read about Chapman Andrews' exploits in Outer Mongolia. His approach now reads to be rather imperialistic, somewhat racist and not especially eco-friendly. But one can be more forgiving when you consider that this was the norm of the time - - see a rare specimen? Kill it, stuff it and stick it in a museum, instead of preserving it or its habitat. And Chapman Andrews' larger-than-life persona will win you over.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: The book Dragon Hunter written by Charles Gallenkamp, revolves around the adventures of Roy Chapman Andrews and his expeditions across Asia and the Gobi desert. Ever since Andrews was a kid he loved nature and animals. When he was older he got into taxidermy which caught the attention of assistant curator Edmund Otis Hovey who helped get him get a chance to work at the American Museum of Natural History. Andrews made the job as just a janitor but showed his skills and used his charm to higher his position and then later the ability to go on expeditions. Andrews was intensely interested with Asia and the perfect opportunity presented itself and Andrews was able to explore Asia and the Gobi in search of fossils, though his greatest crucible lies in wait for him in the Gobi desert.



The first theme is follow your dreams. Andrews while not having any good grades in school had great promise with nature and history. He was given a job at the American Museum of Natural History as a janitor. But he showed his promise not shortly after getting his job he gets a raise. “After eight weeks Bumbus was siffciently impressed with Andrews work to give him a $5-a-month raise” (Gallenkamp 14) This quote shows Andrews hard work showing off and later shows his skill as a taxidermist and gets the chance to start one of his expeditions.



The 2nd theme is never give up. Through out the book Andrews is meet with challenges along the way. Whether it was politics or armed bandits Andrews never gave up. “Eight well armed riders in military uniforms appeared along the road...Andrews ordered the would-be assailants to leave under the threat of being shot” (Gallenkamp). This quote shows Andrews bravery and determination to keep going even when faced with life threating danger on multiple occasions. And not be repressed by political or physical dismay. It is hard to grapple how many times Andrews was in danger.



Ethos

Pathos

Logos

Ethos is used when talking about Roy Champman Andrews and him many awards, notoriety and scientific endeavors.

Pathos is used when I add humor to the commercial making the commercial more enjoyable and memorable.

Logos is used when I say it “it wouldn’t make any sense for you not to read it” And I say if you don’t read you have an Android which if you don’t have an Android therefore you must read it.



Review

The Dragon Hunter belongs to the non-fiction and the sub genre of history. It belongs to this because the events in the book really happened. This book takes place during the 1900s to the 1930s. The author gives examples of this by describing cities, vehicles, technology and the culture of different locations during that time period. Andrews does posses realistic traits but those akin to the traits of some action movie hero's. Andrews was smart, strong, never apprehensive and everything to him was subjective. I never felt negative or positive about the words, they seemed at the correct level and correct syntax was used. A scene that really moved was when Andrews learned of his wife divorcing him in the middle of an expedition and he still carried on the expedition but with a broken heart. It shows Andrews ability to maybe not deal with but mask pain in a professional way and did not let his emotions get in the way. I enjoyed the book but the only problem I saw was the author introduced side characters and dedicated 1 or 2 pages for them, never to bring them up again. But in no way does this debase the books enjoyability but its length. The author Gallenkamp is a celebrated author. He is listed as a notable writer by Marquis Who’s Who. He was the Assistant director for the Museum of Anthropology. I like the book so I would make the commercial with as much enthusiasm I can muster but not be too obsequious to the book.



Reflection

After reading this novel I became a better son, since my Dad really wanted me to read this book so now I'm higher on the pecking order. I became a better reader because I was able to read a book with 321 pages all the way through, that’s a record for me. I became a better writer because of learning of some new words I can use in writing. I became a better thinker because when I put the book done I theorized what happened next. became a better historian because I learned new things about the early 1900s and locations during that time period.

[Ryan Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the reviews for Dragon Hunter make mention that instead of being a book about dinosaurs, it is instead a book about looking for dinosaurs. Right on and as it should be. Roy Chapman Andrews is a man who, in the scientific sphere, hardly requires an introduction. His Asiatic expeditions however have only been chronicled in a handful of texts; certainly, none of them intended for a general audience.

As a professional paleontologist, I was well aware of the outcomes of his expeditions and what the AMNH has to show for them. I am also aware of the popular stigma that whirls around Andrews and his expeditions. So, I'll start there and then move on. I am a big believer that you cannot separate the scientist from their time in history. Andrews, and the AMNH policies at the time, absolutely played into imperialist culture. They went places because they wanted to, they exploited finds because they could, and they held onto beliefs that today would be unconscionable. That being said, Andrews, while living up to this point in time, was not in the least the worst of the crowd. Many of his beliefs I will not defend today, but for an explorer of his time, he did provide the countries he exploited with far more specimens, casts, data, maps, and such than many others I can think of. If you want to rag on any of them, then read up on his mentor Ostrom and get back to me. That guy was a real piece of work of which many of his efforts are not defensible in any way.

The biggest issue in this book I found to be the reminders of how the lands Andrews & Co. were traveling through were "never explored" and uninhabitable. While true that these lands had not been formally mapped by that point, one can hardly call them uninhabitable. Lamas, nomads, Mongolians, and a many other people were living there, still are living there, and repeatedly assisted the expeditions the entire way. I appreciate that Gallenkamp is attempting to replicate the feeling of adventure, but this portion rings false the entire way through.

Now that that is out of the way, the book itself is very good at what it sets out to do; provide a week by week re-telling (more or less), for a popular audience, of the Asiatic expeditions and Andrews as a leader in both the field (literal) and the field (scientifically). I found the discussions of Andrew's early days studying whales very interesting as well as his limited tenure as acting director of the AMNH.

This book is well-written, interesting, and does what it sets out to do. For a book like this, I'm unsure if there is much more to be asked.

4/5: Loses a point for not properly addressing stigma now vs. today and having far too many names just listed that make up many portions of many paragraphs.

[Terry Steinborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and generally well-written account of the life of Roy Chapman Andres, focusing on the Central Asia Expeditions which opened the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and western China to exploration and scientific research during the tumultuous period of the 1920's. Andrews was possibly the best-known person in the world during the 1920's as a result of his remarkable expeditions in East and Central Asia during the decade that saw extreme political turmoil in China and Mongolia, resulting in extremely dangerous and difficult conditions for anything as ambitious as Andrews and the American Museum of Natural History expeditions which in many ways revolutionized paleontology world-wide. An incredible diversity of Cretaceous and Cenozoic life was discovered as extremely well-preserved fossils in the previously unexplored badlands of the Gobi Desert. The presence of blood-thirsty and rapacious bandits, unstable and untrustworthy governments, and a culture totally different than anything encountered in the 'western' world made the achievements recounted in this work even more remarkable. Andrews was a flamboyant character, but one who, through his meticulous planning and undoubted leadership qualities overcame seemingly impossible odds. Gallenkamp does a good job of describing the accomplishments and complications faced by Andrews and his team, only occasionally getting bogged down (and perhaps justifiably so) in the political complications of the time.

[jj Grilliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading about the great explorers of the unknown. Roy Chapman Andrews spent several years in the Gobi desert looking for dinosaur fossils and human remains. He did not find the human remains, but he discovered many dinosaurs. From his expeditions, future expeditions knew where to look. Because Andrews' expeditions were in the 20s, he had to deal with all the political unrest in China and the surrounding area. I learned a lot about that from this book just because of the problems he had leaving for his expeditions. Very interesting man.

[Cayla Naumann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger warning for the book:heavy colonizer language. And obviously it's a probably white man writing about another white man's 'acconplishments'.

That context and warning aside, the scientific contributions of the paleontological finds and the effort put into organizing the pursuit is remarkable and interesting. The author is obviously enamored with Chapman, and provides able detail for the context and story.

I found the first half hard to engage with and a bit of a slough. The rest was captivating and interesting.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know much about Roy Chapman Andrews before reading Gallenkamp's biography. However, this book not only condenses practically all the facts of this 1920 explorer and naturalist's life, but also presents an enlightening panorama of the mentality, the political and economical situation and the cultural drives that allowed the Central Asiatic Expeditions, complete with with howling sandstorms, civil wars and vicious bandits.

[Jwt Jan50 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really good biography. For me, it captures the context of the age of Andrews explorations. I read somewhere (haven't verified) that H Rider Haggard was the most popular author of 1890s England. Where are the unknown and unexplored spaces? Burroughs certainly enjoyed telling those stories. And you get a sense of New York City in the time frame. Maybe not Peter the Great caliber or The Last Place on Earth - but pretty close.

[Frank Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book written by a clearly enthused author for Andrews. The book strays between scientific educational writing about fossils, geology, and more...to suddenly Roy Chapman Andrews social life and personality quirks. All in all enjoyable but not as entertaining I thought the real world Indiana Jones would be. Sometimes the stories we tell are still the best versus the reality

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely engrossing. Astonishingly interesting person in Roy Chapman Andrews. The only biography that comes close to describing the life of such a compelling character is A Rage to Live: A Biography of Richard and Isabel Burton by Mary S. Lovell.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real life guy that inspired Indiana Jones?! Yes please. This biography was really fascinating. His paleontology work was insane and it is amazing how many fossils he had found in his day. Even more interesting was how crazy each of the stories were to get to those fossils.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find this part fundamentally strange, enough that it led to my DNF: Gallenkamp at points fills us in on Henry Fairfield Osborne, the director for a time of the American Museum of Natural History. He and Andrews were close friends even with Osborne being Andrews' boss. They were close enough that Osborne considered them family and Andrews was welcome in his home at any time. Osborne is also a eugenicist. He was so good at it that he won an award for it in Nazi Germany from the Nazis. I repeat: a nazi gave Osborne an award for being a good nazi that was given out in Nazi Germany. Yet, somehow, being close friends with a eugincist nazi, working under a nazi, Gallenkamp tells us our dashing adventurer Andrews was so uninterested in politics as to be apolotical.

The book is just too biased to making our dashing adventurer cool and unproblematic.

[Ted Mccormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic adventure tale!

[Bob Peru · Rating 4 out of 5]

absorbingly good.

[Todd Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Always there has been an adventure just around the corner – and the world is still full of corners.
― Roy Chapman Andrews

Dragon Hunter is the biography of Roy Chapman Andrews an explorer and naturalist who worked with the American Museum of Natural History for many years, eventually becoming its director.

Beginning in the early 1920’s Andrews led a series of expeditions into the Gobi Desert of Mongolia to search for fossils and animal specimens. The goal of the expedition was to provide evidence for the theory of then museum director Henry Fairfield Osborn, who believed that Asia was the birthplace of modern mammals (including Homo sapiens). Although the theory turned out to be incorrect, Andrews discovered many fossils, including the previously unknown Velociraptor and Protoceratops as well as nests of dinosaur eggs in an area of the desert he dubbed the Flaming Cliffs.

Andrews success had a lot to do with his organizational and planning skills. His strategy to access this remote area involved the use of camel trains to move equipment, gasoline and gear to pre-arranged resupply points and then to use automobiles to transport men and fossils (a mode of transportation many thought would prove impractical in the desert). Although the excursions were highly successful they were not without incident as the team had to deal with political instability, hostile terrain, violent dust storms and armed brigands.

As the political situation in China devolved it became increasingly difficult for Andrew to continue his search for fossils. He made his final foray into the Gobi in 1930 and it would be another 60 years before scientists from the U.S. would be able to return. Andrews became director of the Museum of Natural History in 1934, a position that he held until his retirement in 1942. He published numerous books enumerating his adventures which brought him considerable fame. He died of a heart attack in 1960 at the age of 76. The Flaming Cliffs remain an important area for fossil discoveries to this day.

Dragon Hunter is reasonably interesting, but my main reason for choosing the book is my interest in dinosaurs. Unfortunately Gallenkamp largely focuses his attention on the romantic and adventurous aspects of the expeditions and Andrews’ life rather than the scientific knowledge gained from the discoveries. While this is in keeping with Andrews’ own priorities (he preferred the thrill of the hunt to detailed scientific work), I felt this decision left a gap in the story by failing to provide the necessary context for the excursions or the importance of the work. Also … the book needed more dinosaurs.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to hear about the adventures and expeditions of Andrews, but also the most colorful re-telling of the events comes from quotes from Andrews' autobiographies rather than the author. Although Andrews was known to embellish a tale and Gallenkamp endeavors to stick to the facts, there were times when I would have appreciated a little more pizazz when telling about Mongolian bandits, snake-filled tents, and discovering fossils of dinosaurs locked in a fight to the death in quicksand. However, overall this book was a good way for me to become better acquainted with the people I keep coming across in the Vertebrate Paleontology Archives-- Granger, Shackleford, and, of course, Andrews. I also (I guess stupidly) didn't think about the tumultuous situation China at the time of their expeditions and the bureaucratic nightmares they'd encountered. I'll certainly appreciate looking through the Western Asiatic and Central Asiatic photo albums more now that I know more of the history.

[Trevlix · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I normally shy away from biographies, this one was well worth the read. It details the life of Roy Chapman Andrews, an archaeologist from the early 20th century who explored Mongolia in search of ancient man and dinosaur fossils. I highly recommend this book.

Andrews is rumored to be an inspiration for Indiana Jones and after reading the book there is good reason as to why. There are some parallels between the two (including a fear of snakes) and like the beloved Dr. Jones, Andrews was a great explorer and adventurer whose exploits are almost too good to be true.

This is a quick read and I recommend it to everyone. I did not give this 5 stars only because the last few chapters deal with his life after exploration and can be a little dry. However, the rest of the book is excellent and should be on anyone's reading list.

[Karolinde (Kari) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roy Chapman Andrews is regarded by many as an "unconscious" inspiration for Indiana Jones. He was an academic who felt trapped in his own museum, a man with a brash plan who changed the way the world looked at the Gobi and the past. He was a man of his times and because of that, he was often looked down on by those who came after.

Gallenkamp's biography is well written and yet feels stunted. This may be because so much of the emphasis is on the Gobi expeditions. The historical climate is captured perfectly and it is easy to see why so many in China were divided over the European expats. While I learned a lot about Chapman and the impact of his work, the biggest impact of the book was a desire to learn more about the history of China and Mongolia at the beginning of the 20th century.

[Sherry (sethurner) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scientist, adventurer, hunter, museum curator, socialite, all of these terms - and more- describe Beloit native Roy Chapman Andrews, the probable model for Indiana Jones. While there are plenty of biographies written with the young reader in mind, this well-written biography explores colorful Andrews' personal life and significant scientific achievements with the thoughtful adult reader as an audience. Here fact reads as entertainingly as fiction, and we get to see the rise and fall of the man who lived to explore, and loved China at a tumultuous point in in that country's history. The book includes some wonderful photographs.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone read this to tatters before turning it in to the used bookstore where I found it. I can certainly see why. It traces the career of a fossil hunter who drummed up tremendous amounts of money, dragged his family halfway around the world and became a towering figure among paleontologists and adventurers everywhere as he explored the Gobi desert, finding dinosaur bones. You know those characters you see in the movies, Victorian gentlemen who lecture adoring audiences or smoke quietly over a book in the library of his country estate when they're not climbing Everest in tweeds? This is the real guy they based all that fiction upon. Highly recommended.

[John Branney · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a rock hunter and geologist this looked like the ideal book. These early explorers lived dangerous and harsh lives and this book did not disappoint. Chapman had to fight politics, weather, logistics, bandits, corruption, and ten other things at the same time. What they saw in the Gobi desert in the 1920s and 1930s will never be seen again. They were there to see it at its most rugged and unspoiled.

Good book. I would have liked to see more about the digging and less about the politics, but the politics was probably more interesting.

Two thumbs up.