Elephant Trails

"Why do we think about elephants the way we do? Nigel Rothfels burrows deep into this question, exploring elephants both real and imagined across a sweep of places and narratives, from stately museums and wild thickets to lurid circuses. The result is that rarest of beasts in the scholarship on animals and society: a page turner."

"This is a beautiful book. It is as wise and gentle and enduring as (our fantasies impose on) elephants. A monumental work."

"An extraordinary book. Rothfels draws upon archival work, field research, and deep personal reflections to explore the human encounter with elephants. The results are convincing, artful, and often breathtaking."

"Nigel Rothfels's brilliantly written and empathic account of the largest living land mammal shows how the enlivening presence of elephants helped humans to make sense of the world around them."

"Well-researched from wide-ranging resources, this book covers a rich history of encounters between humans and elephant from a realistic yet thoughtful perspective."

"What makes this gracefully written book so moving is the author's careful, quiet portraits of individual elephants. Enchanting and disquieting, in equal measure."

"Elephant Trails is a major contribution to the understanding of animals and cultures from a figure of real authority in the field of animal studies."

"This pathbreaking book traces the transnational history of contemporary ideas about elephants. Elephant Trails is essential reading for anyone who cares about these charismatic—and imperiled—creatures."

"Rothfels's thoughtful wandering through elephant histories, elephant biographies, elephant science, and elephant bone collections turns up the ironies in our lasting fascination with Loxodonta."