The extraordinary interest which this book has excited has induced the publisher to issue a new and revised edition at a reduced price, believing that, as it is the first attempt at a prehistoric novel, it will have a wide reading. The subject, the characters and the period are here for the first time introduced into fiction.
The scenes are laid in the Tertiary Age when, according to the Darwinian Theory, men were emerging from the Ape, and they portray the supposed exploits of our ancestors at that stage of development. The author has aimed to exhibit the features of the time—climate, foliage, animals, etc.—as understood by Geologists and Biologists, and to be scientifically accurate, with no more variations in proportion than are usual in historic fiction.
If Evolution is the true theory of man’s origin there is a long period of forgotten history, covering thousands of centuries, during which men lived and fought and learned, and this book seeks to revivify it and make it realizable. In this period nearly all the arts and industries were started, and the author suggests their crude origin in a variety of episodes. The origin of arms, building, religion and government, the first use of fire and clothing and the primitive form of many social and business problems are indicated in the course of a simple story.
In addition to its valuable scientific hints, the work is rich in practical wisdom. It is also spiced throughout with a vein of quiet humor which provokes mirth and makes it highly entertaining as well as instructive.
The illustrations by H. R. Heaton, an artist of national reputation, are believed to be the best work of his genius.