Perfect Harmony: The Intertwining Lives of Animals and Humans Throughout History

By Roger A. Caras

Book Overview

A Perfect Harmony: The Intertwining Lives of Animals and Humans throughout History is an informative, insightful history of animal domestication through the ages, by late ASPCA president Robert Caras, author of numerous fine works on pets and wildlife. As Caras defines it, domestication is "the shaping of a species by man, using selective breeding to replace natural selection." By studiously reviewing the origins and probable methods of domestication and the ancestry of all manner of animals, from goats and horses in the Stone Age to camels and elephants around 4000 B.C., to ferrets and cats in more recent years, Caras explains how "animals have played a vital role in man's evolutionary course."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557532419
• ISBN13: 9781557532411
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Purdue University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended for all animal rights activists

A Perfect Harmony: The Intertwining Lives Of Animals And Humans throughout History by animal expert and author Roger A. Caras is a fascinating, informative, and enlightening look at how domesticating animals forever changed human history and created the fundamental basis (along with agriculture) for the rise of human civilization. From pastoral livestock, to burden bearers, to controlled, fostered, and protected resources for hunters, animals have served human needs for thousands of years, and so helped shape the world as we know it today. Illustrated with black-and-white artwork, A Perfect Harmony offers a wealth of detail in a thoroughly "reader friendly" text which is very highly recommended for all animal rights activists and wildlife/animal companion enthusiasts interested in learning more about man's interdependence upon our domesticated livestock.