I have reviewed two of Derek Gow’s earlier books (Bringing Back the Beaver, September 2020; Birds, Beasts and Bedlam, July 2022) and both were very good books, but this is by some way a better book than either of those, which, to me, makes it an excellent book.
You don’t have to be mad keen on seeing Wolves walking down your local High Street to enjoy this book. It is a riveting look at human attitudes to a contentious species. The book is as much a look in the mirror for us as it is a look at a top carnivore.
I think that this book is written with a stronger view to inform and challenge us than some of Derek’s previous writing which had high entertainment value. Don’t get me wrong, this book is even more entertaining, for me, for being a tad more analytical and thoughtful.
In these pages we meet Aelfric of Eynsham, The Duke of Sutherland, Roy Dennis, Aldo Leopold and we travel through the UK and many European countries and beyond.
If you are interested in when Wolves disappeared from the UK, and how and why, and whether we should get them back, and who would suffer, if anyone, and who would benefit, then this is a book for you. Even if none of that grabs you very much, this is a book for you because it is so well written and will put smiles and frowns on your face at various places.
As always, Gow has a great turn of phrase. How about ‘…shepherds baptised in the fonts of deep bigotry’? Whether you agree or not, it is a phrase to remember.
The illustrations are excellent – they, too, are by the author.
This will be the book of the year for many people. Maybe for this blog too – but it’s too early to tell. It is certain though, that I won’t have forgotten this book by the time I get to picking my favourite book of the year in late November.
The cover? I’ll give it 10/10.
Hunt for the Shadow Wolf: The lost history of wolves in Britain and the myths and stories that surround them by Derek Gow is published by Chelsea Green.
Buy direct from Blackwell’s – a proper bookshop (and I’ll get a little bit of money from them)
