The earliest evidence of a human and a pet can be traced as far back as 26,000 BC in France where a boy and his 'canid' took a walk through a cave. Their foot and paw prints were preserved together on the muddy cave floor, and smoke from the torch the boy carried was left on the walls, allowing archaeologists to carbon-date their journey. And so, the story unfolds, from these prehistoric days all the way up to the present, of our innate and undeniable need to live in the close company of animals.

In this startling new work, acclaimed cultural detective and lifelong pet owner Jacky Colliss Harvey uses her compelling storytelling skills and keen eye for historical investigation to examine our role as animals' companions, in this exploration of the history not of the pet, but of us as pet owners.

Drawing on literary, artistic and archaeological evidence of our relationships with other species, over thousands of years of human experience, she examines the when, the how and the why of our connection to those animals we take into our lives, assessing these against the latest scientific thinking on this complex and enthralling subject, and suggesting new insights into this most long-standing of all human love-affairs.

[A] lively exploration...Colliss Harvey has an eye for surprising details and a lovely way with description. * Sunday Times *

An engaging, insightful consideration of how anthropomorphism, cruelty, egocentrism, empathy, realism and sentimentality have blended and blurred across centuries - teaching us a vast amount about animals, and
even more about ourselves.

* Irish Times *
both erudite and entertaining...Anyone who has ever loved an animal, which is surely most of us, will find it to be a profound, witty and moving account of that bond. * Glasgow Herald *
tremendously erudite...beautifully illustrated...for all its research into deeper matters, the real pleasure of The Animal's Companion lies in its stories. And they come thick and fast. * The Spectator *
Informative, irresistible, quirky and deeply perceptive. Anyone who has ever loved a creature should read this book. -- Sir Roy Strong
Colliss Harvey is an engaging narrator. She sets scenes and creates immediacy. She writes eloquently, sometimes humorously, often rousingly. * Independent on RED *
Engagingly informative. * Daily Mail on RED *
A bright and breezy cultural history. * Daily Telegraph on RED *
An entertaining romp through the meaning and mythology of red hair. * Sunday Times on RED *
A fascinating new book. * Guardian on RED *

Jacky Colliss Harvey is a writer and editor. She studied English at Cambridge University and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has worked in museum publishing for the last 20 years and is a commentator and reviewer who speaks in both the UK and abroad on the arts and popular culture. She divides her time between London and New York. Her last book was Red: A History of the Redhead.