A puzzling feature in both countries was that the desert sandstones in which these pre-dinosaur footprints were found contained no skeletal remains of the animals that had left them. Chirotherium's identity was to remain a mystery for over a century.

This lavishly illustrated book traces the history of the discovery of the tracks in north-west England, and narrates the finds of the nineteenth century, drawing from hitherto unpublished contemporary accounts and illustrations. It also describes the turnof-the-century work of ichnologist Henry Beasley, who played a leading role in the study and classification of the footprints, and whose extensive photographic archive is both fully inventoried and generously illustrated here.

By weaving anecdotes of the eccentric experiments of the early gentleman geologists into the narrative, the authors skilfully bring the period of the Victorian scientist to life.