Elephants: A Cultural and Natural History

Karl Groning & Martin Saller

Konemann, Cologne, Germany, 1999. Hardcover.

1st Edition.

Book Condition: Very Good.

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good.

A magnificent production - portraying one of the most fascinating and intelligent creatures on earth. Brilliantly illustrated in color and black and white. Indexed, with 4-page bibliography. 482 pages.

Elephants - their ancestral line going back over 50 million years - have been on the endangered species list since 1989.

This book is dedicated to the plagued giants. Generously illustrated, it traces the footsteps of the pachyderm through the many thousands of years of its natural and cultural history: through the savannahs and rain forests of Asia and Africa, where the herds live together according to an astonishing social order; through the history of the elephant as man's servant and the victim of his greed; through its symbolism in myths and religions, and its iconography in art and commerce.

The chapters are:

• Primeval wander;
• The story of the Flood:
• The mammoth;
• Anatomy of an ancient giant;
• The elepehant in the wild;
• The elephant in the ancient world;
• The elephant culture of India;
• The 'white elephant' in southeast Asia;
• Elephant power in the Hellenistic world;
• Fighters & transporters in ancient & modern times;
• Mythical creature & state gift;
• The circus jumbo;
• Trapping & taming elephants;
• Hunter & hunted;
• The image of the elephant in Africa;
• The 'white gold' trade';
• Elephants in the realm of the imagination;
• The zoo as refuge;
• Retreat into the reserve.

Traces the history of elephants, describes their behavior and characteristics, and looks at their influence on various cultures.