The Late Devonian Mass Extinction The Frasnian/Famennian Crisis

"McGhee thoroughly assesses knowledge about the Late Devonian mass extinction, during which at least 70 percent of species vanished. The text is so comprehensive and well written, though, that it could serve as a basic resource for thinking about all extinctions, mass or otherwise: the severity of the extinction, its duration, the various organisms affected, and likely causes. His approach is based first on a description of the evidence, and then on an analysis of the hypotheses [...] The objectivity of the book is enhanced by the author's willingness to even disagree with his own previous work [...] Anyone interested in extinctions should have this book."
– Choice

"McGhee has written a science mystery about one of the major extinction events in the Phanerozoic in a well organized investigation of a mass murder [...] This book is a clear, concise treatment of a complex problem that deserves readership beyond individuals interested in extinctions or the Devonian."
– Jeff Over, State University of New York, Geneseo