To create Bone Wars, we read a lot of books about 19^th century paleontologists. A LOT of books.  Some of them were better than others.  If you'd like to learn more about the real events that inspired the game, here are the good sources.

Books for Grownups

The Gilded Dinosaur : The Fossil War Between E.D. Cope and O.C. Marsh and the Rise of American Science
Mark Jaffe  2001
Three Rivers Press

Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur
Tom Rea  2001
University of Pittsburgh Press
We really like the title of this book.

The Bonehunters' Revenge : Dinosaurs, Greed, and the Greatest Scientific Feud of the Gilded Age
David Rains Wallace 1999
Houghton Mifflin
Includes the complete text of the hilarious New York Herald article which made the Cope-Marsh feud public.

Books for Kids

Kids between 4 and 8 might enjoy the Dinosaurs and Their Discoverers series from PowerKids Press. Two books are about some of our favorite paleontologists.
The Dinosaur Bone Battle Between O.C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope
Brooke Hartzog 1999
PowerKids Press

Tyrannosaurus Rex & Barnum Brown (Dinosaurs & Their Discoverers Series)
Brooke Hartzog 1999
PowerKids Press

Kids from 9 to 12 might enjoy

Fossil Feud: The Rivalry of the First American Dinosaur Hunters
Thom Holmes  1997
Julian Messner
(ages 9 -12)

Jim Ottaviani of G.T. Labs and Two-Fisted Science fame has turned his attention to Cope and Marsh. They gave away a sample on Free Comic Book Day, and it looks like itÕll be good!

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology
Jim Ottaviani   2005
G.T. Labs http://www.gt-labs.com/