LONGEST STORY

Sub-titled 'How Humans Have Loved, Hated and Misunderstood Other Species', why do we treat our dogs as people but prefer pigs as bacon? The book is a compelling search inside our moral selves and through masterful introspection Girling delves into our relationships, fascinations and follies with animals, tracking the origins of attitudes and unpacking contradictions, at the same time asking whether our interactions with other species holds the key to our own survival. 'In an age of extinction, this is essential reading.' Without animals there would be no us. We are fellow travellers on the same evolutionary journey. By charting the love-hate story of people and animals, from their first acquaintance in deep prehistory to the present and beyond, Girling in his dazzling prose tells the story of the cumulative influence of theologians, writers, artists, warriors, philosophers, farmers, activists and scientists across the centuries, now locking us into debates on farming, extinction, animal rights, pets, experiments and religion. Brimming with wisdom and insight, 408pp, illus.