Synopses & Reviews
and#160;Horse-drawn cabs rattling down muddy roads, cattle herded through the streets to the Smithfield meat market for slaughter, roosters crowing at the break of dawnandmdash;London was once filled with a cacophony of animal noises (and smells). But over the last thirty years, the city seems to have banished animals from its streets. In Beastly London, Hannah Velten uses a wide range of primary sources to explore the complex and changing relationship between Londoners of all classes and their animal neighbors.and#160;Velten travels back in history to describe a time when Londoners shared their homes with pets and livestockandmdash;along with a variety of other pests, vermin, and bedbugs; Londoners imported beasts from all corners of the globe for display in their homes, zoos, and parks; and ponies flying in hot air balloons and dancing fleas were considered entertainment. As she shows, London transformed from a city with a mainly exploitative relationship with animals to the birthplace of animal welfare societies and animal rightsandrsquo; campaigns. Packed with over one hundred illustrations, Beastly London is a revealing look at how animals have been central to the cityandrsquo;s success.
Review
"The book's design and illustrations are beautiful, which means, I suspect, that Cow will be probably bought most often as a gift--for country lovers, perhaps. . . . Velten has a passion for her subject and it comes across. Her account is sweeping but precisely detailed and subtly persuasive. . . . Look hard at cows and you learn about humans. Fascinating and delightful." Carola Groom
Review
"The book feels comprehensive despite its size, for Velten's writing is meticulously well researched. . . . She makes fascinating detours into domestication, breeding, art, religion, BSE, stampedes and the rodeo, and the section on African pastoralism is particularly evocative. . . . Velten's passion for the cow works subtly, incrementally becoming the narrative which binds the text together, and her insights into this seminal beast leave us wanting more." Financial Times Magazine
Review
"A fascinating paperback . . . A fascinating mix of history, myth and record prices paid for top breeding animals." Patrick Evans - Times Literary Supplement
Review
"Considering the central role that cows have played in cultures around the world, it is remarkable how rarely an author has undertaken to devote an entire book to the complex history of this commendable animal. All the more welcome, therefore, is Hannah Velten's
Cow, a brief but eminently readable book positively crammed with every sort of cattle lore."
Country Smallholding
Review
"The book feels comprehensive despite its size Financial Times Magazine
Review
"She aims to help us see the animals that produce beef, milk and leather as mythical and awe inspiring." Eastern Daily Press
Review
and#8220;Well researched, it is written in a popular style. It covers animal life from a variety of angles . . . beautifully produced and packed with a variety of well-chosen images, ranging from lithographs and photographs to paintings and cartoons.and#8221;
Review
andldquo;Veltenandrsquo;s sumptuously illustrated, well-researched history of the city is a comprehensive and accessible account of changing and complex animal-human relationships . . . deeply absorbing.andrdquo;and#160;
Review
andldquo;Veltenandrsquo;s lively account, which draws upon famous chroniclers of London life, including Pepys and Dickens, as well as period prints, paintings, and photographs, explores the hidden life of animals in the city. Like many histories, itandrsquo;s colourful, but shot through with brutality. Beasts of burden were not always treated well by their owners, and for centuries bloodsports such as bear baiting and cockfights provided vulgar but robust entertainment. Performing animals probably had a happier life. Among her cast of theatrical creatures, Velten introduces Toby the Sapient Pig, who could pick up letters written on cards and rearrange them into words, and a andlsquo;Chien Savantandrsquo;, who knew the Greek alphabet.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Velten has a lovely way of writing, and her sensitivity to the plight of animals is clear but never obstructs from detail. . . . Velten weaves the words of Pepys, Defoe, Evelyn, Dickens, Hogarth and other witnesses from history into her narrative; all of which is accompanied by a fantastic assemblage of carefully chosen images. In short, Velten does for Londonandrsquo;s animal history what Ackroyd did for its human history. From the cattle herded through the streets surrounding Smithfieldandrsquo;s Market and the work-weary cart, dray, and coal horses to the exotic but doomed animals holding residency at the Tower of London and the pests, vermin, and bedbugs in Londoners own homesandmdash;for most animals the capital was a living hell. Beastly London goes some way to repaying the great debt we owe them for not only shaping the city but transforming everyday life.andrdquo;and#160;
Review
andldquo;From fleas to elephants, this book has it covered . . . an entertaining and deeply absorbing examination of the life of animals in our city. . . . This is simply an outstanding book.andrdquo;and#160;
Synopsis
From the milk we drink in the morning, to the leather shoes we slip on for the day, to the steak we savor at dinner, our daily lives are thoroughly bound up with cows. Yet there is a far more complex story behind this seemingly benign creature, which Hannah Velten explores here, plumbing the rich trove of myth, fact, and legend surrounding these familar animals.
From the plowing field to the rodeo to the temple, Velten tracks the constantly changing social relationship between man and cattle, beginning with the domestication of aurochs around 9000 BCE. From there, Cow launches into a fascinating story of religious fanaticism, scientific exploits, and the economic transformations engendered by the trade of the numerous products derived from the animal. She explores in engaging detail how despite cattles prominence at two ends of a wide spectrum: Hinduism venerates the cow as one of the most sacred members of the animal kingdom, while beef is a prized staple of the American diet. Thought provoking and informative, Cow restores this oft-overlooked animal to the nobility it richly deserves.
About the Author
Hannah Velten is a freelance journalist who has worked as a livestock reporter for Farmers Weekly and has years of experience working with cows and oxen, including on Australian cattle stations and dairy farms in the United Kingdom.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Revealing the Beasts
1and#160; Livestock: Londonersand#8217; Nuisance Neighbours
2and#160; Working Animals: Straining Every Muscle
3and#160; Sporting Animals: Natural Instincts Exploited
4and#160; Animals as Entertainers: Performance, Peculiarity and Pressure
5and#160; Exotic Animals: The Allure of the Foreign and the Wild
6and#160; Pampered Pets and Sad Strays
7and#160; London Wildlife: The Persecuted and the Celebrated
Final Thoughts: An Apology and a Pardon
References
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index