Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions

by Charles Gallenkamp

Book Overview

The New York Times science editor John Noble Wilford has called the Central Asiatic Expeditions (1922-1930) "the most celebrated . . . of the twentieth century." Led by world-renowned explorer Roy... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142000760
• ISBN13: 9780142000762
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Real Indiana Jones!

Roy Chapman Andrews lead a very exciting and interesting life, one that seems to have been the basis for the Indiana Jones films.Andrews starts off from a kid in a poor family and rises to fame through his adventures. When he was in his teens, he talked (How many can do that?) his way into a job at the National Museum of Natural History as an assistient. While he was there, he was sent around to study various things, becoming the expert on whales, dinosaurs and the middle east. He then began planning an enormous expidition to the Gobi Desert in China, to find evidence of the first man. He didn't fidn any, but he did find the first Velociraptor, the Flaming Cliffs of Mongolia and countless fossils of dinosuars and other exctinct animals. Along the way, they had to confront bandits, corrupt Governmental officials and a civil war. Gallenkamp does a nice job writing this biography. It is fast paced and fairly detailed. He draws from several sources and puts them together to get this man's life in order. Along with that, you really get to see Andrews as a person, and you can see that he has a vibrent personallity. He is like a real Indiana Jones in many ways. Along with the biography, Gallenkamp includes pictures, so we get to see what Andrews looks like, but he doesn't name the native guides at all. The problem with it is that is too fast paces, and it jumps around a little bit, making it confusing for the reader. While this is not a huge problem, it is annoying and could be written better. Overall, for its few shortcomings, this is a very good read and well worth getting.

The Amazing Adventure

I thought that Dragon Hunter by Charles Gallenkamp was a terrific book. It is a biography on the life of Roy Chapman Andrews. This is a man that came from a fairly poor family and without much of a education other than what was offered by the state and became one of the most celebrated explorers of American history. The way that the book tells with such great details his life leading up to his adventures. Like when he went to Asia for the first time I felt like I was there with him. When the author described Mongolia as the most beautiful place on earth I wanted to go there a see it. I also thought that the way the author would go off the subject for a paragraph or page to tell of something else tha was happening in history that would help the reader to know what was going on in the area at that time in history. For example when the author writes about the Chinese, the Russians and the Mongolians fighting for Mongolia and some of each of the culture's histories. To sum it up, this is one of the finest biographies and general books that I have ever read and advise others to do so also.

HE WASN'T BORN IN INDIANA, BUT OTHERWISE....

This is a great rollercoaster ride of a book. As the saying goes, a novelist couldn't dream up the real adventures that Roy Chapman Andrews lived through. Right from the get-go, Andrews had incredible energy and before he was 30 he had accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime!As a teenager, Andrews, using a book on taxidermy as a guide, taught himself to mount animals and birds. As the author explains, "He soon became so skilled that he acquired a license from the Wisconsin Conservation Department and started a part-time business mounting trophies for hunters, the proceeds from which paid for most of his college tuition." Andrews always knew what he wanted to do for a living and he went right after it... To quote Andrews, "Actually, I never had a choice of profession. I wanted to be an explorer and naturalist so passionately that anything else as a life work just never entered my mind."After college, even though he had received a letter from the director of the American Museum of Natural History in New York stating that they had no job openings, Andrews went to New York anyway and showed up at the museum. With his combination of charm and determination he convinced the director to hire him. Andrews started off as an "assistant", basically doing janitorial services, but quickly worked his way up. Still only 23 years old, he was sent by the museum to salvage the remains of a North American right whale that had washed ashore in February 1907, at Amagansett on Long Island. The museum wanted the whale for its cetacean collection. In 20 below zero farenheit weather, Andrews and another museum employee, along with local fishermen, started to "excavate" the whale from the sand. After a couple of days of backbreaking work a severe winter storm struck the area and reburied the whale. Andrews and his co-worker had to start all over again, and it took them a further 10 days to accomplish their goal.After that, Andrews was off to the races. The museum sent him out to shore-whaling stations in British Columbia and Alaska to gather anatomical data on whales. Andrews started to write papers on various topics. When he got back to New York he began attending Columbia University so that he could pursue a doctorate in zoology. In his anatomy studies he became quite adept at dissections. His instructor, a prominent surgeon, was so impressed with Andrews' skills that the instructor thought Andrews should pursue a career as a surgeon! Andrews also gave a lecture and slideshow and did so well that he got a standing ovation. He was invited to participate in a lecture program sponsored by the city's Department of Education. At this point, we are only up to 1908-1909 and Andrews was only 24-25 years old.I hope this gives you some idea of how interesting and exciting Andrews' life story is. All the Central Asiatic Expeditions, with howling sandstorms, civil wars and vicious bandits are still to come! This was easily one of the best books I've read in the past ye

A Real Indiana Jones

Before the Jurassic Park boom, little boys all had an enthusiasm for dinosaurs, and much of that enthusiasm was fueled by an explorer who only now has his first full biography, _Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions_ (Viking) by Charles Gallenkamp. It is a great monument to a forgotten explorer and collector.Andrews began an autobiographical volume with a foreword that included the words, "I was born to be an explorer. There was never any decision to make. I couldn't do anything else and be happy." He had humble beginnings in Benoit, Wisconsin, but dreamed of exploring for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He literally told the director there that if it were just a matter of mopping the museum floors, that was what he wanted to do. And he did it, eventually becoming the director of the museum. From floors he went to taxidermy, and then to field expeditions about whales, and then to his five huge famous expeditions into Mongolia from 1922 to 1930. Andrews had superb skills at planning and organizing his expeditions, but was he was a brilliant salesman, enlisting the financial aid of members of New York society. The descriptions of his expeditions make exciting reading, as sandstorms, snowstorms, and brigands all battered the cars, camels, and explorers. But he brought back dinosaur eggs, which caused a sensation, _Velociraptor_, and much more. _Dragon Hunter_ is a well researched and at times exciting telling of the adventures of an American original. Gallenkamp has usefully summarized the Mongolian regional politics as well as New York society of the time, and has made it clear just how the publicity-happy Andrews became a sensation in his day. His record had been sadly neglected by the museum, which is now making amends. The book ends with an epilogue to show how the finds that Andrews fought to get back to the museum have proved a foundation of much of modern paleontology. We have explorers of other types now, but we will not see explorations of this grandeur, size, and style again.

Great Summer Reading

At last! - a proper adult biography of Roy Chapman Andrews. Charles Gallenkamp has written an indepth book about the life of Andrews and the times that he lived in; they are both fascinating. Despite 3 previous attempts by other authors [1930, 1968, 1972 ]to capture the true essence of Andrews, and numerous 'Juvenile' books on the market today - until Gallenkamp's 'Dragon Hunter' There has been no proper biography of Andrews written. If you love to read about real life exploration, discovery, dinosaurs, and bandits; this is a great book. If you want to learn about how Andrews put the Central Asiatic Expeditions together, how personnel was selected, life in the Gobi, and the political intrigue of 1920's China - this is also a great book you will really enjoy. 32 pages of B/W photos are reproduced on glossy paper; a few of these images have never been seen by the public before. Of particular note are the drawings by Karen Wright, which were created for this book. My one complaint is that this bio of Andrews centers around the famous expeditions to Mongolia, but does not go into as much detail about Andrews' earlier whale research days, or his life after the Mongolian Expeditions. Gallenkamp's 'Dragon Hunter' portrays the real-life accomplsihments of a real-life man; warts and all. It is a gripping read, and you quickly realize how much nonsense has previously been written about Andrews. Move over Indiana Jones - here is the real thing. The Central Asiatic Expeditions (1922-1930) comprised the most ambitious scientific venture ever launched from the United States up to that time. Supported by New York's American Museum of Natural History, Andrews and palaeontologist Walter Granger conducted five expeditions to the last unmarked areas of the globe, the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. In Dragon Hunter, Gallenkamp expertly recounts the tremendous discoveries, and it is filled with tales of Andrews and his team surviving sandstorms, and civil war. Gallenkamp tells Andrews's incredible life story, from his beginnings sweeping floors in the taxidermy dept at the American Museum of Natural History, N.Y., to his quick rise to international fame as one of the century's most acclaimed explorers. I admit to reading this all in one night - staying up way past my bedtime. Add "Dragon Hunter" to your summer reading pile - you will not be dissapointed.