The first review of "After Man" was one made by Professor Barry Cox of King's College London in a science-based radio programme. Cox's review was extremely negative, but subsequent reviews were highly positive. Peter Stoler's review in "Time" called the animals in the book "variously amusing or appalling" but "perfectly logical". Dan Brothwell, writing for the "British Book News" stated that the world depicted in "After Man" is not one "of absurd monsters", since Dixon had carefully derived his animals from "the biological reality of the past and present" and had "taken careful note of the biological factors that account for the evolution of lifeforms". The review by Redmond O'Hanlon in "The Times Literary Supplement" particularly praised the introductionary essays on natural selection, genetics and various other natural processes. Reviews in "New Scientist" and "BBC Wildlife" also praised the book and Dixon went on publicity tours in the United States and the United Kingdom.