
Elephant Trails
A History of Animals and Cultures
Nigel Rothfels(Author)
Johns Hopkins University Press
Published on 25. January 2022
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-4214-4259-4 (ISBN)
Description
Why have elephants-and our preconceptions about them-been central to so much of human thought?
From prehistoric cave drawings in Europe and ancient rock art in Africa and India to burning pyres of confiscated tusks, our thoughts about elephants tell a story of human history. In Elephant Trails, Nigel Rothfels argues that, over millennia, we have made elephants into both monsters and miracles as ways to understand them but also as ways to understand ourselves.
Drawing on a broad range of sources, including municipal documents, zoo records, museum collections, and encounters with people who have lived with elephants, Rothfels seeks out the origins of our contemporary ideas about an animal that has been central to so much of human thought. He explains how notions that have been associated with elephants for centuries-that they are exceptionally wise, deeply emotional, and have a special understanding of death; that they never forget, are beloved of the gods, and suffer unusually in captivity; and even that they are afraid of mice-all tell part of the story of these amazing beings.
Exploring the history of a skull in a museum, a photograph of an elephant walking through the American South in the early twentieth century, the debate about the quality of life of a famous elephant in a zoo, and the accounts of elephant hunters, Rothfels demonstrates that elephants are not what we think they are-and they never have been. Elephant Trails is a compelling portrait of what the author terms "our elephant."
From prehistoric cave drawings in Europe and ancient rock art in Africa and India to burning pyres of confiscated tusks, our thoughts about elephants tell a story of human history. In Elephant Trails, Nigel Rothfels argues that, over millennia, we have made elephants into both monsters and miracles as ways to understand them but also as ways to understand ourselves.
Drawing on a broad range of sources, including municipal documents, zoo records, museum collections, and encounters with people who have lived with elephants, Rothfels seeks out the origins of our contemporary ideas about an animal that has been central to so much of human thought. He explains how notions that have been associated with elephants for centuries-that they are exceptionally wise, deeply emotional, and have a special understanding of death; that they never forget, are beloved of the gods, and suffer unusually in captivity; and even that they are afraid of mice-all tell part of the story of these amazing beings.
Exploring the history of a skull in a museum, a photograph of an elephant walking through the American South in the early twentieth century, the debate about the quality of life of a famous elephant in a zoo, and the accounts of elephant hunters, Rothfels demonstrates that elephants are not what we think they are-and they never have been. Elephant Trails is a compelling portrait of what the author terms "our elephant."
Reviews / Votes
[Rothfels] captures the ache and cruelty of colonization and enslavement; it is, at times, a gruesome read but a sobering one. This book will appeal to those fascinated by the mythology and legacy of elephants, as well as animal lovers who fight for the liberation of all living creatures.-Jen Cox, Scientific American Elephant Trails provides an excellent example of animal history methodology that untangles historical animals from the human cultures around them and the foibles of historical sources.
-American Historical Review
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
45 s/w Abbildungen
45 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 257 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
494 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4214-4259-4 (9781421442594)
DOI
10.1353/book.85886
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2022
Johns Hopkins University Press
€40.99
Available for download
Person
Nigel Rothfels is a professor of history and the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the author of Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo and the editor of Representing Animals.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Blind Men's Elephants
Chapter 1. First among Monsters
Chapter 2. Afraid of Mice
Chapter 3. A Serpent for a Hand
Chapter 4: The Most Friendly Creature
Chapter 5: A Descendant of Mastodons
Chapter 6: The Last of Its Kind
Chapter 7: Trails of History
Notes
For Further Reading
Index
Introduction. Blind Men's Elephants
Chapter 1. First among Monsters
Chapter 2. Afraid of Mice
Chapter 3. A Serpent for a Hand
Chapter 4: The Most Friendly Creature
Chapter 5: A Descendant of Mastodons
Chapter 6: The Last of Its Kind
Chapter 7: Trails of History
Notes
For Further Reading
Index