From an acclaimed archaeological writer, a worldwide history of hunting

Offers a comprehensive, authoritative history tracing huntings influence on culture and society through the ages.Bill Heavy, Wall Street Journal

Hunting is one of humanitys most ancient and universal activities. It has been embedded in every facet of our lives, shaping social bonds, power hierarchies, and interactions with the spirit world.

This book tells the story of how hunting evolved from a means of survival practiced with clubs and spears to a genteel display of royal power, and how it has become, in todays world, complicated and hotly contested.

In this wide-ranging study, Brian Fagan discusses how Neanderthals stalked prey and killed at close range, how hunting evolved as a political spectacle, and how commercial and trophy hunting precipitated an ecological crisis. He invites us to hunt with Charlemagne, explains how there was more to the demise of North American bison herds than rifles, and describes how influential figures such as John Muir, George Bird Grinnell, and Theodore Roosevelt fought for conservation during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Filled with lively stories, fascinating discoveries, and compelling characters, Fagans exploration of huntinga companion to his Fishingoffers an informed and entertaining history of an essential human pursuit.