A Monstrous Commotion

A Monstrous Commotion is surely the best and sanest recent book on LNM: readable, informative and fully referenced. -- James Hamilton-Paterson * LITERARY REVIEW * But does he exist? The author plays his cards close to his chest throughout this entertaining...book. -- CRAIG BROWN * MAIL ON SUNDAY * Williams is a staunch skeptic, but he has the good grace not to spoil the fun entirely. He is fascinated by the curious characters drawn to Loch Ness from all over the world; by the skulduggery and the hoaxes; and by the wacky methods employed by those hoping to capture the clinching piece of evidence. -- RUPERT HAWKSLEY * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH * Gareth William's excellent book isn't about the Loch Ness Monster; it's about the people who have looked for it. -- Mark Mason * THE SPECTATOR * Gareth Williams is the first to provide a non-partisan account of events at the loch ... Williams brings a dry wit and a scientist's illuminating perspective to the endless spectacle of Loch Ness folly. No one has written better about the great Nature debacle ... an entertaining and reasonably comprehensive account of this enduring animal myth -- Ronald Binns * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT * Williams gleefully exposes the bogus science, the warped facts, and the misunderstanding of evolution. Sifting the evidence, analysing the hearsay, showing the extent of the leg-pulling, he says that Nessie is no more than the action of the wind and the waves. -- Roger Lewis * DAILY MAIL *

Gareth Williams is Emeritus Professor and former Dean of Medicine at the University of Bristol. His previous books for general readers are Angel of Death: The Story of Smallpox (shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize of 2010), Paralysed with Fear: The Story of Polio and A Monstrous Commotion: The Mysteries of Loch Ness. He is a past president of the Anglo-French Medical Society and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Angers. He is often to be found playing the flute or saxophone in and around Bristol.