The Book of Dogs
A Life-Size Guide to Canids Worldwide
Format:Hardback
Publisher:The University of Chicago Press
Published:2nd Sep '26
Should be back in stock very soon
For all dog lovers, a stunningly illustrated and scientifically informed global guide to our beloved canine companions and their wild kin.
Dogs are spectacularly diverse. From the world’s smallest wild canid, the diminutive fennec fox, to the majestic grey wolf, and from the towering great Dane to the tiny Chihuahua, The Book of Dogs celebrates the connections between humans’ best friends, their ancestors, and their wild cousins, offering insights into both wild and domestic canines and profiling every related species in the dog family Canidae as well as the vast variety of domestic dog breeds.
No other book so comprehensively and globally covers the most widespread family of carnivore species, helping to show that humans’ companions are part of a much larger animal world. Leading canid expert and award-winning author David W. Macdonald accessibly explains developments in the study of genetics to reveal the ancestry of modern canids and the astonishing hybridization among them. In addition to showcasing the diversity of our planet’s dogs, the book presents the latest research on the ecology, behavior, and society of wild dog species. These compelling descriptions with beautiful photographs—including life-size snout images of each of the thirty-seven wild canid species and over two hundred global breeds—offer readers of The Book of Dogs a chance to meet and understand our companions and their kin like never before.
"Pricelessly [includes] photos of each canid’s nose, poking out from the corner of each page. The Book of Dogs takes its readers on a sweeping tour of the evolution of wild canines, their natural history, and the wild variety of breeds that humans have shaped from wolflike ancestors over thousands of years. Our author, Macdonald, is the University of Oxford’s first professor of wildlife conservation, and in these pages, through a combination of his own terrific, informed prose and gorgeous illustrations from dozens of photographers, he presents what is surely one of the best dog books ever presented to a grateful dog-loving public. . . . By its very nature, The Book of Dogs will feature prominently in bookstore displays in the lead-up to the end of the year, and that’s as it should be: it’s an amazing production. Fingers crossed the Press finds the spiritual wherewithal to resist following it up with, shudder, The Book of Cats."
-- Steve Donoghue * Open Letters Review *"By combining scientific research with accessible explanations and compelling photography, The Book of Dogs offers more than a celebration of beloved pets. It places familiar companions within a much larger story of ancestry, adaptation and the natural world. For dog enthusiasts, wildlife lovers and readers curious about animal evolution, Macdonald’s guide provides an opportunity to discover the many connections between the dogs sharing our homes and the wild canids roaming the planet."
* New York TreISBN: 9780226844220
Dimensions: 254mm x 178mm x 38mm
Weight: 1873g
512 pages