Not only do I love researching and hunting for Nessie but I like to collect books about Nessie. I have been doing that for over thirty years and I still have not finished. Despite the advent of the Internet, books are still important and with the advent of e-books, their survival in one form or another will continue.
The emphasis is on books aimed at a general audience which outwardly take some kind of serious approach to the subject. So juvenile books and fictional works are not included. Books which are not purely Nessie but have a decent section on the monster are included. Books in foreign languages are not included and the vast volume of magazine and newspaper articles that exist are excluded (too much work!). But we do have some good, melodramatic pictures of Nessie that grace our various book covers!
You may also notice I might be a bit hard on some sceptical minded books, but that's because I am biased (as they are). Also, do not equate sceptical books with critical thinking books because you will find that class of analysis across both genres (to varying degrees).
As far as I know, most of these books are out of print and it is unlikely they will be published again. Most of the popular titles can be found on Amazon, Abebooks and eBay under used books but some are so rare that they may only appear at intervals of years apart.
The second book on the monster published by the monks at the Abbey around May 1934. This was very much a tourist booklet of 15 pages covering the best sightings up to that point (and even Ogopogo gets a mention).
Another Sea Serpent researcher in the form of Oudemans published a small monograph on the creature after Gould. We know it was after Gould because he mentions Gould's work. Oudemans took the view that Nessie was a stray sea serpent and proceeds accordingly.
This little known 15 page booklet by Loch Ness Monster expert Constance Whyte first covered the subject for the King's College Hospital Gazette but then found its way into print as this booklet. A short treatise on Nessie which would later find greater expansion in her next book.
The copy I have actually has her handwriting in the margin annotating a possible sighting as dubious and she initials it "
CW"!
Whyte, Constance. More Than A Legend. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1957.
Constance Whyte started a chain of events that rekindled interest in the Loch Ness Monster. Tim Dinsdale pointed to this book as the catalyst that sent him north to Loch Ness and the rest as they say is history. The book takes up where Gould left off in examining the phenomenon but also adding sightings of the creature since 1934. A second edition appeared in 1961.
Dinsdale, Tim. Loch Ness Monster. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961
Having sparked world interest in his famous film, Tim published his story and research into Nessie the following year. A popular book that went through various reprints and at least two revisions up to 1982. Tim Dinsdale is the Loch Ness Monster's most prolific author with four titles.
Burton, Maurice. The Elusive Monster. London: Rupert Hart Davis, 1961
At the same time Dinsdale published his seminal book, Burton countered with the first sceptical book on the Loch Ness Monster. It would be another 22 years before another such book arrived on the scene. Burton was a sceptic, then believer, then sceptic again and as such employs an array of standard explanations to (in his eyes) consign Nessie to the dustbin of history. Expect much talk about otters, birds, deer, vegetable mats and hoaxers.
Dinsdale, Tim. The Leviathans. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966
I think this is the first book that treats generally of all fresh and salt water cryptids. Tim Dinsdale's in-depth exploration of lake monsters, sea serpents, washed up carcasses and various other genres of the aquatic cryptid.
The book was revised and expanded to nearly 300 pages for the US market as the book "
Monster Hunt" in 1972.
James, David. Loch Ness Investigation. Loch Ness Phenomenon Investigation Bureau Ltd, 1968
Written by one of the founders of the LNPIB, this is a short 40 page treatise of the monster bringing readers up to the work of that organisation. No date of publication but given the evidence of the text, no earlier than 1967.
Holiday, F.W. The Great Orm of Loch Ness. Faber & Faber, 1968
Ted Holiday was one of the most seasoned monster hunters and indulged in some lateral thinking in his first book by suggesting the "
Orm" as he called it was a giant version of a long extinct invertebrate.
Note also the publisher Avon's less than invertebrate-like and more plesiosaur-like cover designed for the 1970 paperback version! I guess dinosaurs sell better than worms.
Cooke, David C & Yvonne. The Great Monster Hunt. Norton, 1969
When I first picked up this book subtitled "
The Story of the Loch Ness Investigation" I thought it was a recounting of the activities of the Loch Ness Phenonomenon Investigation Bureau. They are included but it is rather the authors' personal recounting of their trip to Loch Ness and the various interviews they conducted plus conclusions and observations. A good read actually all told.
Hastain, Ronald. Loch Ness and the Monster. J. Arthur Dixon, 1971
A standard tourist trade booklet to flick through as one watches the loch from the Castle to the skirl of the bagpipes. The picture is of a well-formed standing wave and not Nessie. However, Nicholas Witchell in a precursor to his main book did provide the text.
The 1970s proved to be the best decade for Nessie books as the various photos that came out created a storm of interest in the monster. Publishing success also guranteed some very nice (albeit unrealistic) cover artwork.
Baumann, Elwood. The Loch Ness Monster. London: Franklin Watts, 1972
This was one of several mysteries books written by Baumann. It is another boilerplate book which basically surveys the sightings history though since Mr. Elwood was a member of the LNPIB there is a bit of extra emphasis on their work. The book suffers the indignity of the Hugh Gray Nessie photograph being printed upside-down
and the
front cover sculpture of Nessie by Dick Dulany is intriguing to say the least!
Klein, Martin. Underwater Search at Loch Ness. Academy of Applied Sciences, 1972
Martin Klein documents the earlier expeditions of the Academy of Applied Science. Contributions from Rines and Dinsdale as well (so I am not sure if this counts as a fifth book for Tim Dinsdale).
Holiday, F.W. The Dragon and The Disc. Norton, 1973
Though still holding to his invertebrate theory, Holiday began to venture into the paranormal with this book as he explored his theory about long past dragon and disc cults in Britain and their connection. As far as I know, only Holiday called Nessie a dragon (though she was always referred to as a kelpie or similar in the Highlands).
Also titled "
Creatures from the Inner Sphere" and "
Serpents of the Sky, Dragons of the Earth" in reprints.
Dinsdale, Tim. The Story of The Loch Ness Monster. Tandem Publishing, 1973
A Lite version of the Nessie story from our intrepid monster hunter. My favourite bit is the claimed sighting by a William Shakespeare which the newspaper staff at the local Inverness Courier were reticent to print. Sceptics will no doubt claim Shakespeare's sighting was a work of fiction!
Witchell, Nicholas. The Loch Ness Story. Terence Dalton, 1974
The definitive history of the Loch Ness Monster (albeit a bit dated now). Witchell employed a wide array of sources with the help of seasoned monster hunters to give us the best survey of the monster and its hunters. Its success ensured various revisions and reprints.
Costello, Peter. In Search of Lake Monsters. Garnstone Press, 1974
My favourite general book on lake cryptids and the one with IMO the best section on the Loch Ness Monster in that genre of books. So I include it here and I still refer to it to this day.
Perera, Victor. The Loch Ness Monster Watchers. Capra Press, 1974
Author Victor Perera spent a few weeks in Scotland as he toured the loch and spoke to various people associated with the mystery. This is an entertaining and insightful read of 43 pages which includes interviews with Dick Raynor, Frank Searle, J. A. Carruth (see booket above) and Alex Campbell all espousing their belief in the Loch Ness Monster.
Witchell, Nicholas. Loch Ness and the Monster. J. Arthur Dixon, 1975
A short 32-page tourist booklet brought up to date for the then recent Rines underwater pictures.
Dinsdale, Tim. Project Water Horse. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975
A great and informative read as Tim Dinsdale moves the focus away from the Monster and onto the contemporary people, equipment and strategies involved in the hunt as well as various other goings-on around the loch.
Grimshaw, Roger & Lester, Paul. The Meaning of the Loch Ness Monster. University of Birmingham, 1976
An interesting, 42-page academic work which is a sociological commentary on the Loch Ness Monster phenomemon. It is not so much an attempt to identify any such creature but rather to explain how people have framed the phenomenon through various eyes from the ancients and their folklore up to the present day and the interpretations of enthusiasts, the media, entrepreneurs, scientists and the general public.
Great cover art by Fortean Times artist, Hunt Emerson.
Smith, Warren. Strange Secrets of The Loch Ness Monster. New York: Kensington Publishing, 1976
A book with a back cover which asks some startling questions. Such as is Nessie the relic of a lost underwater civilisation? Is there a connection between Nessie and the Hollow Earth, Bermuda Triangle and UFOs? Best of all, is her picture carved in ancient pyramids?
Pertinent questions to which the answer is a collective "
No". As it turns out, this boilerplate book is a general survey of lake monsters worldwide with perhaps a third of its 234 pages devoted to Nessie and other Highland creatures.
Mackal, Roy. The Monsters of Loch Ness. Swallow Press, 1976
One of the best books on the Monster and certainly the biggest one at 401 pages. Dr. Mackal applies his knowledge of biology and science in general to the loch and its mysterious inhabitant to come up with the most erudite work to date. The front cover gives away his prime choice of candidate.
Searle, Frank. Nessie: Seven Years in search of The Monster. London: Coronet Books, 1976
Frank Searle published this at the height of his fame. His Sunday Mail expose was not long after this. Lots of alleged Nessie photographs, Girl Fridays and one cat.
Searle, Frank. The Story of Loch Ness. John Eccles Printers, 1977
Arch hoaxer Frank Searle also dipped into the publishing world with a few tourist oriented booklets. This book was reviewed previously
here.
Searle, Frank. Around Loch Ness. John Eccles Printers, 1977
This is essentially a slightly bigger version of "
The Story of Loch Ness" where Searle adds his brand of monster hunting tips such as places and equipment.
Robertson, Barrie. Loch Ness and The Great Glen. James Heap Ltd, 1977
It's that two humped beastie again and you can guess who features strongly inside. Another tourist booklet for the area with Frank Searle's stuff used as the attractant.
Meredith, Dennis L. Search at Loch Ness. New York: Quadrangle, 1977
Meredith accompanied Rines and his Academy of Applied Science team to Loch Ness with the New York Times in 1976. This is the group's account of that time and their other work up to that point in time.
Snyder, Gerald. Is There a Loch Ness Monster?. New York: Julian Messner, 1977
The answer is "
Yes" and Mr. Snyder who was based in Inverness goes about this survey in a fairly thorough and engaging way. So I hesitate to class this book as "
boilerplate" as he does approach fulfillng the fourth of my criteria above (and I did pick up a few useful things from his book).
Akins, William. The Loch Ness Monster. Signet, 1977
A well researched book which is a kind of mini-version of Roy Mackal's book. Useful sections on eyewitness reliability, candidates and the 1976 Rines expedition. Akins takes a semi-skeptical view of much evidence but comes out in favour of the giant eel hypothesis. Interestingly, he thinks he sees a child's face in the Hugh Gray photo (as opposed to the much vaunted labrador dog)
.
Cornell, James. The Monster of Loch Ness. Scholastic Book Services, 1978
Another in that series of boilerplate books where someone goes to Loch Ness for a few weeks, talks to people, goes home and writes a book to cash in on the 1970s Nessie bandwagon. In Cornell's case, he went along to see if the Rines expedition could repeat their success of 1975 along with a whole army of media men and the New York Times which had first rights on any exclusives.
Needless to say, he went home disappointed. Needless to say, as a collector I still bought it.
Harmsworth, Tony. The Mysterious Monsters of Loch Ness, Precision Press, 1980
As curator of the newly established "
Official Loch Ness Monster Exhibition", Tony produced this well written booklet for visitors. Empahsis is on the evolved plesiosaur theory. More on this book can be found
here.
Omand, Donald. The Devil Hunter. Sphere Books Ltd, 1981
What has this to do with Nessie? Well, the Reverend Donald Omand conducted the famous exorcism of Loch Ness in 1973 helped by F. W. Holiday (who writes his own version in "
The Goblin Universe" below). He devoted a chapter to this and a few other sea monsters.
Sensical, Benjamin, Loch Ness: An Explanation. Privately Published, 1982.
A short booklet which has disappeared from view but which Mr. Seniscal reprinted in his autobiography. A well reasoned discourse on how rotting vegetation and forestry debris can produce gas propelled biomasses. More on this book can be found
here.
Searle, Frank. Loch Ness Investigation. Unpublished, 1983
Subtitled "
What Really Happened", the publishers pulled this book in the face of possible legal action over some rather inflammatory things Frank had to say about other Loch Ness researchers. After this, he left Loch Ness for good never to darken her shores again. Whether Searle still believed in a Nessie or ever saw it or photographed it is forever lost in the noise of his fakes.
I looked at Searle and his book in this
article. Mike Dash did a good piece on it
here.
Armstrong, Edward. Sticking My Neck Out. Privately Published, 1983
A bit of an oddity this one but it certainly delivers an interesting read. I have previously addressed one item from this 24 page book with his theory that a seagull flies past the "
Monster" in the Surgeon's Photo (see
link). However, his main thrust is to promote the theory that Nessie is some form of aquatic pachyderm (i.e. related to the elephant).
Binns, Ronald. The Loch Ness Mystery: Solved. Open Books, 1983
We enter the era of the Sceptic as various disaffected monster hunters and "
just plain against it from the start" people enter the fray. Ronald Binns published first with a title described as "
prematurely titled" by another sceptic (why I am not sure). The formula was simple and not much different from Maurice Burton - waves, boats, birds, otters, deer, etc, etc. Even inert rocks get a look in (are people that stupid?) Pictures of small animals are zoomed in to the point of graininess to make them look huge and frozen snapshots of unsustainable postures (see cover) suggest the "SOLVED" should be appended with a big question mark.
Harmsworth, Tony. Loch Ness - The Monster. Peter Gray Ltd, 1985
A well written 30-page booklet written by the then curator of the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre. Presumably written to accompany the exhibition
.
Campbell, Steuart. The Loch Ness Monster: The Evidence. Aquarian Press, 1986
Steuart Campbell, a general sceptic who has also written against UFOs and Religion follows on from Binns with another sceptical book and adds some of his own analysis.
Revised in 1997 I believe.
Bauer, Henry. The Enigma of Loch Ness. University of Illinois Press, 1986
Midst all this sceptical writings came Henry Bauer who erects a robust defense for the creatures of Loch Ness. The Dinsdale Film is defended amongst other classic pieces and this book also has a valuable list of all recorded sightings with sources up to that point in time (helped by the researcher Ulrich Magin).
Holiday, F.W. The Goblin Universe. Llewellyn Publications, 1986
Holiday finally makes his break from any animal theories in this full blown disseration on the paranormal origins of Nessie. However, Holiday did not publish it and Colin Wilson undertook the job after Holiday's death in 1980.
I spoke about this book
here. The book was modified and republished by Xanadu Publications in 1990.
Owen, William. The Loch Ness Monster. Jarrold Publishing, 1986
A standard booklet for the tourist trade which appears to have manifested in more than one form. Nuff said
, though apparently William Owen was a "
dab hand" at painting plesiosaurs!
Frere, Richard. Loch Ness. John Murray Publishers, 1988
Though not a dedicated Nessie Sceptic book, it continues in the line of such books appearing at that time. Being a general book on the history and features of Loch Ness it has a chapter on the Loch Ness Monster. Confessing himself to be a Nessie Atheist, Frere makes his views known and also claimed that a famous Nessie photograph was hoaxed (which we shall speak about some other time).
Gibson, J.A. & Heppell, David. The Search for Nessie in the 1980s. The Scottish Natural History Library, Kilbarchan, 1988
A symposium on the Loch Ness Monster was held at the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh on July 25th 1987 which was organised by the Society for the History of Natural History and the International Society for Cryptozoology. The proceedings of the meeting were published in two parts in the centenary edition of the Scottish Naturalist and contained contributions from various leading lights of the Loch Ness mystery including Tim Dinsdale, Henry Bauer, Adrian Shine, Roy Mackal and Robert Rines. A thorough going analysis of Loch Ness, its ecology and its most famous resident.
Shiels, Tony. Monstrum! A Wizard's Tale. Fortean Tomes, 1990
In amongst naked witches, fairies, owlmen and general wizardry hokum you will find an interesting read about Shiels' "
psychic" adventures with the Loch Ness Monster and some other aquatic cryptids. His take on paranormal squid is worth the read on its own, whether you believe he is a hoaxer or not.
Picknett, Lynn. The Loch Ness Monster. Pitkin Pictorials Ltd, 1993
Yet another tourist trade booklet, professionaly done though for 20 pages worth.
Boyd, Alastair and Martin, David. Nessie: The Surgeon's Photograph Exposed. Privately Published, 1999
A book beloved of sceptics as it dismantles the most iconic picture of the Loch Ness Monster. It doesn't occur to them that Alastair Boyd was a firm believer in Nessie with a good hump sighting in the 1970s. Martin and Boyd use the plot line of
The Sting film to trace a story of deception and revenge that led to the hoaxing of this famous picture.
Harrison, Paul. The Encyclopaedia of The Loch Ness Monster.
Robert Hale Ltd, 1999
A great resource for getting to the raw facts on key persons and events that are connected with the mystery of Loch Ness. The definitive A to Z of Nessie.
Also recently revised and updated for the Amazon Kindle (see
link).
Shine, Adrian. Loch Ness.Loch Ness Project, 2006
As current curator of the Loch Ness Centre, Adrian Shine employs his extensive knowledge of Loch Ness Flora and Fauna to give an overview of the loch's ecology as well as a potted history of its most famous inhabitant in this small booklet (albeit from a sceptical point of view).
Betts, Jonathan. Time Restored: The Harrison Timekeepers and R.T.Gould. Oxford University Press, 2006
Monster hunter Rupert Gould was a man of many talents as this book demonstrates. However, our interest is in the chapter on his pursuit of the Loch Ness Monster. Also interesting is the claim that Gould recanted on the famous Spicers land sighting (which I covered
here).
Harmsworth, Tony. Loch Ness, Nessie and Me. Faber & Faber, 2010
The latest in our line of sceptical books written by the former designer and curator of the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre. I reviewed this book previously
here.
I think all the sceptics have put pen to paper now, so is this the last of these type of books for another few decades?
Watson, Roland. The Water Horses of Loch Ness. Createspace Publishing, 2011
A book which surveys the pre-Nessie era of sightings and folklore tales of the Loch Ness Water Horse and other such Highland creatures. The book is talked about
here.
Byrne, Gerald. Gestalt Forms of Loch Ness. JRP Ringier, November 2011
I have not seen this book yet, but I suspect the book is not
only a personal voyage in pictures but a look at how everyday objects
can deceive. More on the book at this link.
