The Company of Wolves - by Peter Steinhart (Paperback)

About the Book

As wolves return to their old territory in Yellowstone National Park, their presence is reawakening passions as ancient as their tangled relations with human beings. This authoritative and eloquent book coaxes the wolf out from its camouflage of myth and reveals the depth of its kinship with humanity, which shares this animal's complex complex social organization, intense family ties, and predatory streak.

Book Synopsis

They have been feared, sentimentalized, and slaughtered, yet they somehow have managed to resist extinction. Now wolves are being reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park, reawakening passions as ancient as their tangled relationship with human beings. For wolves, says Peter Steinhart, are our secret sharers, fellow predators with a complex social organization, intense family ties, and an equal capacity for aggression and cooperation. In The Company of Wolves, Steinhart follows these elusive creatures into their natural habitats. He describes the complexities of predation and pack life. He listens to them howl. He talks to the men and women who have devoted their lives to protecting or eradicating them. The result is an authoritative and eloquent book that is not only the last word on wolves but a journey back to the wild origins of human nature.

From the Back Cover

They have been feared, sentimentalized, and slaughtered, yet they somehow have managed to resist extinction. Now wolves are being reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park, reawakening passions as ancient as their tangled relationship with human beings. For wolves, says Peter Steinhart, are our secret sharers, fellow predators with a complex social organization, intense family ties, and an equal capacity for aggression and cooperation. In The Company of Wolves, Steinhart follows these elusive creatures into their natural habitats. He describes the complexities of predation and pack life. He listens to them howl. He talks to the men and women who have devoted their lives to protecting or eradicating them. The result is an authoritative and eloquent book that is not only the last word on wolves but a journey back to the wild origins of human nature.

About the Author

Peter Steinhart is a naturalist and a writer. For 12 years he was an editor and columnist at Audubon, and his work has appeared in Harper's, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, and Sierra. He has twice been a finalist for a National Magazine Award, and his essays have been widely anthologized. He has published four books, among them The Company of Wolves and Undressed Art: Why We Draw. He lives and draws in Palo Alto, California.