Description
Book Synopsis'A vital, thorough and accessible history that everyone who cares about the past or the future should read.' Rosamund Young, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Cows
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The story of the relationship between humankind and cattle, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Counting Sheep.
To tell the story of the relationship between humankind and cattle is to tell the story of civilisation itself. Since the beginning, cattle have tilled our soils, borne our burdens, fed and clothed us and been our loyal and uncomplaining servants in the work of taming the wilderness and wresting a living from the land.
There has never been a time when we have not depended on cattle. As human societies have migrated from the country to the city, the things they have needed from their cattle may have changed, but the fundamental human dependence remains.
Blending personal experience, recollection, interviews with farmers, butchers and cattle breeders and studding the narrative with little-known nuggets of technical detail, Philip Walling entertainingly reveals the central importance of cattle to all our lives.
Trade ReviewA
well-researched, uncynical and thought-provoking book. It is also an elegy to a dying industry. -- Nigel Farndale * The Times *
A vital, thorough and accessible history that everyone who cares about the past or the future should read. * Rosamund Young, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Cows *
Entertaining... A colourful and informative romp through the history of native breeds, brought to life through delightful anecdotes. * Country Life *
Engaging... Lively... Fascinating * Spectator *
Wondrous... Walling loves cows and I love his book. It intrigues and feeds just like a big, beautiful cow. -- John Lewis-Stempel * Countryfile *
Table of Contents1: Dairying 2: The Gloucester Cow 3: The Shorthorn 4: The London Dairies 5: The Channel Island Breeds 6: The Black-and-White Revolution 7: The Miracles of AI and Pasteurization 8: Raw Milk 9: My Little Herd of Heifers 10: To Hereford, to Hereford, to Buy a Big Bull 11: Ruby Red Devons 12: Scotch Black Cattle 13: The Irish Breeds 14: From Scotland to the High Plains of Colorado 15: Feedlots and the Grazing Cow: the Maker of Fertility 16: The Texas Longhorn: an Ancient Breed in a New Land 17: 'Rascals with horns goin' straight out' 18: The Spanish Fighting Bull 19: Sacred Cows
