Book Review: The Real Story of Dinosaurs and Dragons: Science Sets the Fossil Record

BOOK BY PHILIP J SENTER
FERAL HOUSE, 2025

The Real Story of Dinosaurs and Dragons is an informative and thought-provoking exploration of the expansive young-Earth creationist bungling attempts to make sense of the fossil record, answering their often zany ideas with the actual science that explains what happened. Philip J Senter’s clear writing, and frequent use of visuals, illuminates the history in ways that make it an enjoyable read.

It was surprising for me to hear how far creationists have gone to try and prove fire-breathing dragons were really fire-breathing dinosaurs that were human contemporaries—as if that would somehow validate their spurious claims. During this journey of discovery, Senter touches on rumors of Noah’s Ark on Mt. Ararat, the mythical Leviathan, and several hoaxes. Interestingly, he also shows how one could understand from the bible itself that some fantastical claims and stories were never even intended to be read as literal or historical.

While he doesn’t leave room for unscientific viewpoints to remain standing, Senter isn’t offensive to faith in his approach. So, I would recommend this book to anyone, whether they are religious folks open to discovering the truth or secular people fascinated by the science behind the myths.