Did Bigfoot just pop up one day or has it been around for a while? Veteran cryptozoologist Loren Coleman examines the question in Bigfoot!: The True Story of the Apes in America.

After introducing himself and how his own researching of Bigfoot started, Coleman’s overview of the subject begins with events in 2000 when a rash of sightings made the news on the National level during the summer before the finding of the Skookum body cast in Washington state. After this hook, Coleman reviews the oral and written traditions and histories of Bigfoot from Native American tribes to colonist, settlers, hunters, and normal people up until 1958 when Jerry Crew made the first Bigfoot casts, and a “legend” was born. Coleman covers everything around the Bluff Creek incident and how it sparked the search for Bigfoot which led to the Patterson-Gimlin film that Coleman covers in-depth as well. Coleman completes his history with the “rise” of other bipedal “monsters” across the country from Florida’s Skunk Ape to Missouri’s Momo. The last half of the book is Coleman covering various topics and subjects that have arisen over the near half-century from Coleman’s own theory about three subspecies of Bigfoot—Classic, Eastern, and the North American Apes in the South—to the belief that Bigfoots were extraterrestrials during the last 1970s and many other things before Coleman finished the book by asking and answering three important questions at this point in the search of Bigfoot.

This is book is a excellent overview of the history of Bigfoot by one of the best cryptozoological researchers to have worked in the field and who worked alongside many of the early and important scientists that studied the subject soon after 1958. Through Coleman focuses on history, he does cover some scientific subjects including one that is not talked about much by researchers. Coleman’s inclusion of his subspecies theory and supporting evidence, especially related to the more apish subspecies of the American South and southern Midwest, adds to the overall work.

Although Loren Coleman’s Bigfoot! is almost two-decades old, it is still relevant for anyone interested in Bigfoot/Sasquatch whether one has been a long-time enthusiast or newly interested. ( )

This is the best Bigfoot book I have ever read. It was well written and it talks to you with intelligence and common sense. The book is well organized and gives you the information and asks you to make up your own mind. The book gives you the history behind Bigfoot and tells many stories on the sightings. It tells the story of hoaxes and con men, and research and scientists. The book has some black and white photos to supplement the text, but a few more photos would have been better. Still, the book was exciting to read and I enjoyed it very much. I look forward to reading more books written by Loren Coleman. ( )

A fairly good overview of the history of the bigfoot phenomenon in America, including some things that rarely get mentions. Recommended both for casual and deeply interested people. ( )