

Nigel Rothfels
Why have elephants—and our preconceptions about them—been central to so much of human thought?
From prehistoric cave drawings in Europe and ancient rock art in Africa and India to burning pyres of confiscated tusks, our thoughts about elephants tell a story of human history. In Elephant Trails, Nigel Rothfels argues that, over millennia, we have made elephants into both monsters and miracles as ways to understand them but also as ways to understand ourselves.
Drawing on a broad range of sources, including municipal documents, zoo records, museum collections, and encounters with people who have...
Why have elephants—and our preconceptions about them—been central to so much of human thought?
From prehistoric cave drawings in Europe and ancient rock art in Africa and India to burning pyres of confiscated tusks, our thoughts about elephants tell a story of human history. In Elephant Trails, Nigel Rothfels argues that, over millennia, we have made elephants into both monsters and miracles as ways to understand them but also as ways to understand ourselves.
Drawing on a broad range of sources, including municipal documents, zoo records, museum collections, and encounters with people who have lived with elephants, Rothfels seeks out the origins of our contemporary ideas about an animal that has been central to so much of human thought. He explains how notions that have been associated with elephants for centuries—that they are exceptionally wise, deeply emotional, and have a special understanding of death; that they never forget, are beloved of the gods, and suffer unusually in captivity; and even that they are afraid of mice—all tell part of the story of these amazing beings.
Exploring the history of a skull in a museum, a photograph of an elephant walking through the American South in the early twentieth century, the debate about the quality of life of a famous elephant in a zoo, and the accounts of elephant hunters, Rothfels demonstrates that elephants are not what we think they are—and they never have been. Elephant Trails is a compelling portrait of what the author terms "our elephant."
[Rothfels] captures the ache and cruelty of colonization and enslavement; it is, at times, a gruesome read but a sobering one. This book will appeal to those fascinated by the mythology and legacy of elephants, as well as animal lovers who fight for the liberation of all living creatures.
Why do we think about elephants the way we do? Nigel Rothfels burrows deep into this question, exploring elephants both real and imagined across a sweep of places and narratives, from stately museums and wild thickets to lurid circuses. The result is that rarest of beasts in the scholarship on animals and society: a page turner.
This is a beautiful book. It is as wise and gentle and enduring as (our fantasies impose on) elephants. A monumental work.
An extraordinary book. Rothfels draws upon archival work, field research, and deep personal reflections to explore the human encounter with elephants. The results are convincing, artful, and often breathtaking.
Nigel Rothfels's brilliantly written and empathic account of the largest living land mammal shows how the enlivening presence of elephants helped humans to make sense of the world around them.
Well-researched from wide-ranging resources, this book covers a rich history of encounters between humans and elephant from a realistic yet thoughtful perspective.
What makes this gracefully written book so moving is the author's careful, quiet portraits of individual elephants. Enchanting and disquieting, in equal measure.
Elephant Trails is a major contribution to the understanding of animals and cultures from a figure of real authority in the field of animal studies.
This pathbreaking book traces the transnational history of contemporary ideas about elephants. Elephant Trails is essential reading for anyone who cares about these charismatic—and imperiled—creatures.
Rothfels's thoughtful wandering through elephant histories, elephant biographies, elephant science, and elephant bone collections turns up the ironies in our lasting fascination with Loxodonta.
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Blind Men's Elephants
Chapter 1. First among Monsters
Chapter 2. Afraid of Mice
Chapter 3. A Serpent for a Hand
Chapter 4: The Most Friendly Creature
Chapter 5: A Descendant
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Blind Men's Elephants
Chapter 1. First among Monsters
Chapter 2. Afraid of Mice
Chapter 3. A Serpent for a Hand
Chapter 4: The Most Friendly Creature
Chapter 5: A Descendant of Mastodons
Chapter 6: The Last of Its Kind
Chapter 7: Trails of History
Notes
For Further Reading
Index
with Hopkins Press Books