Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #340885 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-25
• Released on: 1996-06-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Steinhart examines why wolves have featured so prominently in debates about natural preservation and the roles of predators.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
People either hate wolves or love them. To many, wolves have come to represent the last remnants of wildness; to others, wolves are a metaphor for the deeper aspects of the human animal. This is not a treatise on wolf biology but an examination of the relationship between humans and wolves in the wolves' last refuges in the Arctic and in places where the two species live together again as wolves move into new areas, either through their own natural movements or through attempts at reintroduction. Steinhart, the author of several books (e.g., Tracks in the Sky, Random, 1991) and many popular articles on the environment, speaks with wolf biologists, wildlife managers, trappers, ranchers, Native Americans, and others. Though it is clear where Steinhart's sympathies lie, the book is balanced between the wolves' advocates and their opponents. Highly recommended for general collections.
Bruce Neville, Univ. of Texas Lib., El Paso
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Midwest Book Review
How have human lives been touched by wolves? Peter Steinhart provides both a scientific and a psychological exploration of the impact wolves have had on humans, considering the controversies surrounding wolves and recent wolf research, in Company Of Wolves. His blend of personal experience and scientific commentary results in a lively treatment of the topic.

Customer Reviews

Another Wolf Classic
I found this book picked up where Barry Lopez (Of wolves and men) left off and continues to confront the very real opposition agianst wolves, ranchers and trappers. It also has some wolf adovactes and wolf researchers who argue on the wolf`s behalf. This book is loaded with tons of great information and paints a clear picture of the wolf debate. The only thing I found that was annoying is that, once agian, the book covered mostly american issues. It would have been great if it had covered some canadian and world issues instead of focusing on american wolves.

The Company of Wolves
Steinhart examines many aspects of wolf conservation and controversy in a thought-provoking book.

Although this book is slightly dated, having been written before wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone, I still think it is very much worth reading. It examines controversial issues from various perspectives without demonizing or whitewashing any of them, letting the reader form conclusions -- or come to the conclusion that solutions are not easy after all. It is one of the only nature writing books I've read that discusses the sociological and anthropological aspects of conservation, and the moral issues that complicate our relationships with predators, and it does this in a clear, rational, unsentimental way. Some of the ideologies presented here will be disturbing to readers -- I had never encountered the belief that wildlife is a "resource" to be "harvested" as people see fit -- but Steinhart presents his informants in a fair light, I think.

Chapters on the purity or not of red wolves (on which Steinhart suggests what I think is a rational conclusion regarding the mutability of species as they evolve) and on the dangers of wolf-dog hybrids add interesting material that isn't covered in most books on wolves.

Good introduction to wolves

This book discusses the world of wolves and their relations with people. It makes a great introduction to the subject. Though most of the material will be familiar to the dedicated wolf-freak, even she will learn some new things here. Steinhardt writes well, and the book is as much a page-turner as a nonfiction book can be.

Each chapter combines a particular theme with Steinhardt's discussions of some person relevant to that theme. For example, the chapter on howling focuses on Algonquin Provincial Park and its summer wolf howls, built around discussions with John Theberge, who started researched Algonquin's wolves by howling at them. The most amusing of these subject-and-person pairings is the chapter on wolf pack social organization, in which David Mech is characterized as the alpha male of wolf research.

Each chapter also includes some musings on the meaning of wolves for humans. Why do we hunt? Why do we react to the howl as we do? Why do some people breed wolf-dog hybrids? Some of these musings posed interesting questions but I didn't find any of Steinhardt's comments on them particularly insightful.

Steinhardt is clearly on the side of the wolves, and I suspect that most of his readers are, too. Still, he makes an effort to discuss both sides of the issue. Ranchers and even a retired wolf-bounty hunter find sympathetic portrayals here.

The book's overall lack of depth would be my only significant criticism. To learn more, dig into the "further reading" that Steinhardt provides at the end.