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From trunk to tail, these thirty-three essential historical, scientific, and cultural writings on the elephant range from folktales to current practices, creating a greater understanding of this creature.
List of contents
Table of Contents
Part 1: Cultural and Classical Elephants
The Meaning of Elephants
The Origin of Elephants
War Elephants
Aristotle's Elephant
Pliny's Elephants
Beasts of the Book
Part 2: Colonial and Industrial Elephants
Killers and Heroes
Industrial Killers
Part 3: Working and Performing Elephants
To Break and Tame
A Mother's Love
Jumbomania: A Circus Story
Death and the Circus
Cutting the Chain
Abusing Captive Elephants in India
Part 4: Scientific and Social Elephants
Individuals
Families
Green Penis Disease
Sex
Part 5: Emotional and Cognitive Elephants
Joy
Triumph and Grief
Big Love
A Concept of Death
The Secret Language of Elephants
Elephant in the Mirror
An Interest in Ivory and Skulls
Part 6: Empathic and Endangered Elephants
The Good Samaritans
Rescuing the Antelopes
Scents and Sensibilities
Blood Ivory
In Praise of Pachyderms
Part 7: Fictional and Literary Elephants
The Faithful Elephants
A Mahout and His War Elephant
"Dear Elephant, Sir"
About the author
Dale Peterson's twenty previous books have been named Best of the Year by the
Boston Globe, the
Denver Post,
Discover, the
Economist, the
Globe and Mail,
Library Journal, and the
Village Voice. Two titles have been honored as Notable Book of the Year by the
New York Times. Peterson is the author of the definitive biography
Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man, as well as
Elephant Reflections,
Giraffe Reflections,
The Moral Lives of Animals, and
The Ghosts of Gombe. With Jane Goodall, he coauthored
Visions of Caliban: On Chimpanzees and People, and he is coeditor, with Marc Bekoff, of
The Jane Effect: Celebrating Jane Goodall, published by Trinity University Press. A former fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Peterson teaches at Tufts University and lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Summary
From trunk to tail, these thirty-three essential historical, scientific, and cultural writings on the elephant range from folktales to current practices, creating a greater understanding of this creature.
