"Exceptionally
interesting.
. . . [A] first-rate
study. . .
. For the Love
of Animals
is exemplary
in every respect. Shevelow,
who teaches
18th-century
British literature
and culture
at the University
of California
at San Diego,
obviously has
strong feelings
about her subject,
but she has
not written
a jeremiad.
She is scrupulous
in her research,
fair to all
participants
in the ongoing
debate, and
writes eminently
readable prose.
It is a special
bonus that
she has rescued
Richard Martin
from oblivion
and given him
the respect
he so clearly deserves."
Jonathan
Yardley, The
Washington
Post Book World full
review
"Shevelow,
a noted scholar
of 18th-century
British literature
and culture,
has written a
richly engaging
narrative on
the individuals
and social conditions
that gave rise
to the animal
protection movement
in England. With
warmth and charm,
she nimbly chronicles
how the work
of charismatic
reformers and
the public's
emerging concern
with animal suffering
gave rise to
the first animal
welfare legislation.
The setting is
London in the
1700s, a city
of splendor and
squalor where
horrendous animal
abuse was sanctioned
by philosophy
and tradition
and highly visible
because the lives
of its animal
and human citizens
were closely
intertwined.
Among those who
took notice and
protested were
the earliest
animal advocates,
unique characters
who lend human
interest to the
story as they
face contempt
and ridicule
in championing
their unpopular
cause. Because
then, as now,
indifference
and selfishness
were the greatest
obstacles to
ending cruelty
to animals. Lively,
readable, and
unique, this
is a valuable
addition to the
literature on
animal welfare
history." Recommended
for all libraries.
Leslie
Patterson, Chicago
P.L., Library
Journal.com
" Shevelow’s
passionate
and lively
book
explores
the cultural
role
of animals
in 18th and
early
19th-century England,
chronicles
[Richard]
Martin’s
odyssey
to protect
them
and culminates
in the
passage
of the
bill
and the
SPCA’s
founding. It
is a
fascinating
story.
. . .
Shevelow’s
book
shows
how far
we’ve
come
in terms
of animal
protection,
and how
far we
have
to go”
Michael
O’Donnell, San
Francisco
Chronicle full
review
“ For
the Love of
Animals provides
a perceptive
and eye-opening
look at how
the British
people developed
a sense of
obligation
toward the
defenseless
creatures in
their care. Through
vivid anecdotes,
Shevelow .
. . brings
readers on
a tour of Britain’s
massive contradictions
and paints
memorable portraits
of the motley
crew that invented
the animal-rights
movement. .
. . This book
is thought-provoking
and inspiring,
reminding readers
how much has—and
hasn’t—changed
over the centuries.” Randy
Dotinga, Christian
Science Monitor full
review
" .
. . an outstanding
history of the
animal rights
movement that
emphasizes the
connections between
the past and
the present day." San
Diego Union Tribune full
review
“A
specialist
in eighteenth-century
British literature
and culture,
Shevelow is
uniquely primed
to write the
early history
of the animal
protection
movement as
England was
the home of
the world’s
first national
animal protection
law. The events
leading up
to the passage
of that law,
the Ill-Treatment
of Cattle Act
of 1822, make
for absorbing
reading. England
in the eighteenth
century was
a famously
cruel place,
a land of slave
dealers, extreme
class distinctions,
abject poverty,
and horrendous
treatment of
animals—and
yet this miasma
produced the
abolition of
slavery, the
improvement
of prisons
and mental
hospitals,
and the crusade
against cruelty
to animals.
Shevelow follows
various players
in the struggle,
including moral
caricaturist
William Hogarth,
abolitionist
William Wilberforce,
flamboyant
Irish MP Richard
Martin, and
eccentric Scots
barrister Thomas
Erskine, as
the tide of
public opinion
is turned against
bull baiting,
cock fighting,
and the everyday
abuse of draft
horses. Culminating
in the founding
of the Society
for the Prevention
of Cruelty
to Animals,
this mesmerizing
history is
full of colorful
characters
and anecdotes
about eighteenth-century
history.” Booklist
"Bright
account of the
much-reviled
reformers who
fought to end
animal cruelty
in England.
In
1822, the
British Parliament
passed the
Ill-Treatment
of Cattle Act,
the world’s
first animal-protection
law, setting
the stage for
the founding
two years later
of the Society
for the Prevention
of Cruelty
to Animals.
Shevelow (British
Literature
and Culture/Univ.
of California,
San Diego; Charlotte:
Being a True
Account of
an Actress’s
Flamboyant
Adventures
in Eighteenth-Century
London’s
Wild and Wicked
Theatrical
World,
2005, etc.)
details at
length how
people mistreated
animals in
the century
and a half
leading up
to reform.
Blood sports
were commonplace,
with bear gardens
and cockpits
attracting
both criminal
riffraff and
noble lords.
The belief
that animals
existed to
serve human
needs changed
gradually,
the author
notes, with
writers like
Margaret Cavendish
arguing that
animals were
rational and
had their own
forms of expression.
But it was
the growing
popularity
of household
pets in the
early 18th
century that
turned the
tide, as owners
of lapdogs
and songbirds
became animal
lovers. Shevelow
draws on journals
and other writings
to describe
the affection
for animals
among such
notable figures
as Sir Isaac
Newton and
Samuel Johnson,
both of whom
favored cats,
and the diminutive
Alexander Pope,
who was dwarfed
by his Great
Danes. She
also offers
stories of
dog thievery
for ransom,
performing
animals and
the phenomenon
of “monstrous
birth”:
women supposedly
having infants
that looked
canine. Polemics
against animal
abuse, such
as William
Hogarth’s
famous engravings The
Four Stages
of Cruelty,
finally gave
rise to a formal
movement; reformers
in 1800 launched
a two-decade
battle to win
animal-protection
legislation.
The author
describes animated
debates, which
culminated
in the successful
1822 legislative
drive led by
Richard Martin,
an Irish MP
who once engaged
in a gunfight
to avenge the
killing of
a dog." Kirkus
Reviews
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