Bibliograph

American monster, how the nation's first prehistoric creature became a symbol of national identity, Paul Semonin

Type

Label

American monster, how the nation's first prehistoric creature became a symbol of national identity, Paul Semonin

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 447-462) and index

Illustrations

mapsillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

American monster

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

43851314

Responsibility statement

Paul Semonin

Sub title

how the nation's first prehistoric creature became a symbol of national identity

Summary

Examines the thoughts and myths surrounding the excavation of the first complete mastodon skeleton in 1801 and explores how the mastodon became the symbol of American national identity

Table Of Contents

Introduction: Patriotism and prehistoric nature -- The giant of Claverack in Puritan America -- The antediluvian world as a "new found land" -- The mystery of the Siberian mammoth -- Big Bone Lick : "the place where the elephant bones are found" -- The American incognitum in Paris -- The anatomy of a carnivore -- The "monstrous grinders" in the American Revolution -- The doctrine of monsters reborn -- American degeneracy and white supremacy -- The savagery of prehistoric nature -- "Monarch of the wilderness" -- The elephant with claws -- Exhumation of the monster -- The mastodon of nations -- The mastodon in the age of dinosaurs -- Afterword: The myth of wild nature

Classification