Elephant

(Paperback)

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Description

Aristotle characterized the elephant as 'the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind', and the animal has long figured in cultural artefacts, even on continents it has never inhabited. The elephant's countless manifestations in human history have made it one of the most charismatic animals, and Elephant provides a richly illustrated, engaging look at that legacy.

Reviews

'Readers of Elephant may be surprised at the huge amount of fascinating history, biology, and generally little-known information that can be packed into such a small book. But this is not unusual for the Reaktion series of monographs on animals, many of which, including this one, are surely destined to become classics. Elephant excels in presenting a masterly combination of historical and literary knowledge about elephants with up-to-date facts and figures on the efforts of conservationists to prevent the decline and probable extinction of the living species in Africa and Asia.' - Anthrozoos 'Broken up into clear sections on taxonomy, physiology, representation of elephants, human use of elephants and conservation and illustrated throughout with 99 different plates, the book give a great overview for someone wanting to learn more about the world's largest land mammal and how their history has been intertwined with our own.' - Captive Animal Protection Society

Author Bio

Dan Wylie is Associate Professor of English at Rhodes University in South Africa. He is the author of several books, including Myth of Iron: Shaka in History (2006) and Toxic Belonging: Identity and Ecology in Southern Africa (forthcoming, 2008).