The Magic Zoo: The Natural History of Fabulous Animals, Including Dragons, Mermaids, Unicorns, and Centaurs

by Peter Costello

The Real Beasts Behind the MythsFabulous animals and birds have fascinated and intrigued men from the earliest the Greeks had their centaurs and satyrs, the Chinese their Kai-Lin and Feng Wang, and today we have our Yeti and the Loch Ness monster.But is there any truth in the myths? Do real animals or real animal behaviour lurk behind the legends? Peter Costello, author of In Search of Lake Monsters , looks at the whole range of strange animals from the seemingly imaginary beasts of prehistoric art such as the Lascaux Beast, through classical myth and medieval bestiaries, through vampires and werewolves to modern monsters like the sea serpent, exploring the possibility that real creatures were the basis of the legends.The Magic Zoo is an engrossing, enchanting and highly readable look at he imaginary beasts that roam the mind of Man

Genres: Nonfiction, Cryptozoology, Mythology, History, Mythical Creatures, Occult

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like a bestiary, and this is a nice one. It covers the more familiar mythical beasts, such as the unicorn, manticore, basilisk and co., but also the somewhat less well known, such as the barometz and catoblepas. Costello looks at each beast as it was originally imagined, then delves into the likely factual bases for each one. Fun and informative.

[Seizure Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 32-page bibliography alone is worth three stars. An excellent addition to any mythology library.