The author is at her best when she recounts the adventures, both mundane and spiritual, that she encountered during her amazing life and travels. When she expounds on spiritual teachings and doctrines, she is not so skillful.

Given the brevity of the book, one can hardly expect a complete and systematic exposition of the views on the topic of immortality and reincarnation found in China, Tibet and India. Still, the work is so idiosyncratic and choppy that it will be of limited value for anyone seeking an introduction and overview of the teachings and insights offered by these diverse cultures. That is unfortunate, such a work is much needed.

Yet, with these limitation in mind, this work does offer some value for the discerning reader.

Important insight into various interpretations of what it means to be immortal,covering Tibetan and Indian beliefs. Alexandra David-Neel seems, to me, to be not only scholarly but also truly spiritual in her approach to this question of what it means to be re-incarnated. The work is intended for serious seekers. It is inspiring, and provocative. It does not set out with any agenda other than to give Westerners a glimpse into the mind of the oriental. It gives no comfort or answers. This , to me, represents its greatest value.

I wish that it wasn't so, but this book about mass extinction events suffers from serious problems with accuracy. There were so many questionable statements contained within this book, that I found myself running to the bookshelf to check the validity of my
objections with other sources.
Here are just a couple of examples. The author on pages 11 and 39 intoduces trilobites as "aquatic crustaceans". Trilobites are an extinct class of Arthropods (Crustacea is a another class) and were entirely marine in habitat. However, there follows a very brief (and confusing) description of dominant faunal groups of trilobites during the Ordovician, the Ibex and Whiterock fauna. It is far too complicated a concept to express, as the author attempts, in just two sentences, especially when neither term is included in the glossary.
In a section on extinct fish, Erikson describes placoderms as "ferocious giants that reached 30 or more feet in length", when in fact, nearly all placoderms were rather small. Only a couple of species within the arthrodire group of placoderms, such as Dunkleosteus, reached such proportions. Included in a section about the Age of Fishes, defined as the mid-paleozoic, the author refers to both sharks and rays. Rays don't show up in the fossil record until the Jurassic. That's only a couple a hundred million year off. One could go on and on describing other mistakes as blatant as these.
There are just too many serious errors to overlook and, in my opinion, additional problems with the organization and presentation of subject matter make this book tough to follow and a poor choice for those interested in extinct creatures.
Most of the illustrations are crude and the photography appears to be dated USGS and US Navy "freebies".
Skip this one and buy a copy of Richard Fortey's "Fossils- The Key To The Past" for accuracy and a more compelling overview.