Reddit reviews The Complete Book of Dinosaurs: The ultimate reference to 355 dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, including more than 900 illustrations, maps, timelines and photographs

I actually just searched for this sub with this exact question in mind! However I was thinking of something that introduced species chronologically, (i.e. starts with the messy buggers in the pre-cambrian, and works it's way through as much as we know).

Basically sparked by reading up on saber-toothed cats and finding out they're not actually Felidae, and I realised that while I absolutely love reading about pre-historic life, I really don't have much basis in knowing fully the various branches of life that have existed. Convergent evolution is amazing to read about, but so is evolution itself!

Just wish-listed these three books (1, 2, 3) on amazon, wondering if anyone could recommend if any of those might be what I'm looking for in terms of prehistoric life overall (and not just dinosaurs, though dinosaurs are obviously super cool too) but also possibly recommend any, as I know these are very broad overview encyclopedia's with pretty pictures. Don't mind detail and complexity, but not that interested in the process of excavations and such as it relates to palaeontology.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Book-Dinosaurs-Illustrations-Photographs/dp/1780190379/ref=asc_df_1780190379/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310848077451&hvpos=1o14&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16757418086549347193&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046483&hvtargid=pla-453340283747&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

This is the one I had and still own today. It’s about 15 years old and still the best damn Dino book I own.