The pawprints of history
Subtitle: dogs and the course of human events
By: Stanley Coren ; illustrations by Andy Bartlett.
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 322
Subjects: Dogs -- History.; Animal intelligence.; Behavior, Animal; Dogs
Description: [In this book, the author] has amassed a ... collection of stories. [In the book], the stories themselves are the focus and readers have the undiluted pleasure of sharing in [his] unique trove. As history's great figures strut across the stage, [he] guides us from the wings, lovingly picking out the canine cameos and giving every dog of distinction its day. He vividly depicts the dogs who have played a significant role in the lives of many historical figures, and shows how their relationships with their people have directly influenced the course of world events. In this unparalleled chronicle, we see how Florence Nightingale's chance encounter with a wounded dog changed her life by leading her to the vocation of nursing. We learn why Dr. Freud's Chow Chow attended all of his therapy sessions and how the life of the Fifth Dalai Lama was saved by a dog who shared his bed. We see the obsessive love of King Charles II, who gave his spaniels hereditary titles of nobility so that they might go with him into the House of Lords. From canines who accompanied the rulers of ancient Egypt to those belonging to the presidents of the United States, dogs have been companions as well as political symbols and instruments of public relations - including Calvin Coolidge's collie Prudence Prim, who had a cheerful collection of fancy hats, and Bill Clinton's chocolate Lab, Buddy, who made timely appearances to help his master through photo ops ... In this definitive collection of canine greatness, bursting with tales of famous figures and their four-legged catalysts of every breed and possible disposition, from lapdogs to four-legged warriors, from sleuthing hounds to sedentary pugs, [the author] convincingly documents that wherever are found the footprints of history, there too one will find the pawprints.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-316) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: PREFACE ix; title: PROLOGUE xi; title: CHAPTER 1 Sentinels and Symbols I; title: CHAPTER 2 The Saint and the Irish Dogs 15; title: CHAPTER 3 The Angry Prince and the Welsh Dog 27; title: CHAPTER 4 The Devil Dog of the English Civil War 35; title: CHAPTER 5 The Companions of the Prussian Emperor 5S; title: CHAPTER 6 The Conquistador's Dogs 67; title: CHAPTER 7 The Dogs of the Scottish Writer 8I; title: CHAPTER 8 Dogs in the Opera House 95; title: CHAPTER 9 The Talking Dog 11; title: CHAPTER 10 The Dog on the Therapist's Couch 127; title: CHAPTER 11 For the Love of Dogs and Other Beasts I43; title: CHAPTER 12 The Dog Shogun I57; title: CHAPTER 13 The Dog Law and the Mary Ellen Case 67; title: CHAPTER 14 The Emperor and His Dogs of Misfortune I81; title: CHAPTER 15 Conversations with Dogs 197; title: CHAPTER 16 The Lion Dogs of the Forbidden City 215; title: CHAPTER 17 The Indian Fighter's Dogs 237; title: CHAPTER 18 The Virginia Farmer's Foxhounds 251; title: CHAPTER 19 The Dogs in the Oval Office 263; title: CHAPTER 20 The Counter-factual History of Dogs 291; title: ENDNOTES 311; title: INDEX 317.