Synopses & Reviews
Through a Window is the dramatic saga of thirty years in the life of a community, of birth and death, sex and love, power and war. It reads like a novel, but it is one of the most important scientific works ever published. The community is Gombe, on the shores of Lake Tangganyika, where the principal residents are chimpanzees and one extraordinary woman who is their student, protector, and historian. In her classic
In the Shadow of Man, Jane Goodall wrote of her first ten years at Gombe.
In Through a Window she brings the story up to the present, painting a much more complete and vivid portrait of our closest relative. We see the community split in two and a brutal war break out. We watch young Figan's relentless rise to power and old Mike's crushing defeat. We learn how one mother rears her children to succeed and another dooms them to failure. We witness horrifying murders, touching moments of affection, joyous births, and wrenching deaths. In short, we see every emotion known to humans stripped to its essence. In the mirror of chimpanzee life, we see ourselves reflected.
Perhaps the best book ever written about animal behavior, Through a Window is also essential reading for anyone seeking a better grasp of human behavior.
Review
"Readers may not agree with the parallels Goodall draws between apes and humans, but they will neverthess be entertained by her theories." Library Journal
About the Author
Jane Goodall is an internationally renowned conservationist and humanitarian. The world's foremost authority on chimpanzees and the recipient of numerous distinguished awards in science, she is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, which is widely recognized for its conservation and development programs in Africa, and the Roots & Shoots global youth program. Dr. Goodall is also the author of many acclaimed books, including the bestseller Reason for Hope, her spiritual autobiography. She spends more than three hundred days a year traveling the world to raise awareness about her work.