Cow

About this book

Cows, bulls, and oxen are everywhere, physically and figuratively: references, images and symbolism abound in myth, folklore, religion, art, literature, film and the media; even cities have been created around cattle. This ubiquity is undoubtedly due to their long and close association with mankind: since earliest times the power of aurochs (wild oxen) has been harnessed to plow fields, and they also provided meat, milk, milk products such as cheese and butter, leather, horn, and a myriad other useful and valuable goods to early humans. Early civilisations regarded these animals as their wealth, and revered and respected them in religious and secular life. In modern civilisations, however, we have lost this intimate relationship: cattle are now viewed mainly as commodities, set apart from our daily lives. While we are still exploiting the usefulness of cattle, we rarely give them the respect they are due.

"Cow", by Hannah Velten, re-introduces the cow, the bull and the ox to the modern reader. It aims to make people think about the animals that are producing their beef, milk and leather, and to see them, once again, as mythical and awe-inspiring. The book begins with the domestication of the auroch around 9,000 BC, and moves through time and around the globe, charting the changing social relationship of man and cattle through myth, folklore, religion, art, literature and film. Containing more than 100 illustrations, with over 30 in colour, "Cow" is a lively and also thought-provoking re-introduction to these noble and majestic creatures.

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Biography

Hannah Velten is a freelance journalist who lives in East Sussex, UK. She has many years practical experience working with cows and oxen, ranging from cattle stations in Australia to dairy farms in the UK, as well as working as a livestock reporter for Farmers Weekly magazine.