Endorsements
“This gem of a book, vast in erudition and insight and rich in mind-boggling scientific observation, will leave the reader both humbled and grateful.” —From the Foreword by Gabor Maté, author of The Myth of Normal
“Darcia Narvaez and Gay Bradshaw invite us to turn to Nature and our nonhuman Animal relatives to learn the ways of ‘mothering’—of care for the Earth, all her beings, and future generations.” —Dr. Vandana Shiva, physicist, ecofeminist, and food sovereignty activist
“The most thought-provoking, fascinating, challenging, beautiful book I’ve read in years. With remarkable scholarship and compelling storytelling, the authors examine the consequences of humanity’s arrogant, and, ultimately, futile rebellion from the natural world.” —Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
“We are given a pathway back to the truth of our larger experience of self, one deeply woven not only in these bodies we are born into, but also in the relationships with humanity and Nature that are waiting for us to reclaim our joyful belonging to all life on Earth.” —Daniel J. Siegel, MD, New York Times bestselling author of IntraConnected
“Gay Bradshaw is a renaissance woman, with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics (Chinese), a master’s degree in geophysics, and two Ph.D. degrees: one in ecology and another in psychology. She is therefore well equipped to unite multiple fields into a new synthesis. Her first book, Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us About Humanity, was the first work to document Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in non-human animals. It won numerous awards, was featured in a cover article in the New York Times Magazine, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. In Carnivore Minds, Bradshaw synthesizes ethology, psychology, neuroscience, natural history, ecology, and evolutionary biology to build a convincing case.Her beautiful writing makes this case powerfully.” — Reed Noss, Biological Conservation
“Elephants on the Edge is an urgent call to end this strife and for humanity to embrace once more the traditions that kept the peace with our animal kin.” —Archbishop Emeritus Desmond M. Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
“Bradshaw brings home to us forcefully what we should have realized long ago: that destroying the family life of highly social, intelligent animals leads inevitably to misery among individual survivors and pathological misbehaviour among the group.” —J. M. Coetzee, Nobel Laureate in Literature, 2003
“In addition to possessing a remarkable breadth of experience, she is extraordinarily adept at not only reporting very recent advances within a number of different scientific literatures, but also creatively bridging the data and forging conceptual links across these bodies of knowledge. Working at the cutting edge and the interface of disciplines, this groundbreaking book is an exceptional feat of scholarship. It is my hope and prediction that this extraordinary work will become a classic and transformational volume in both the biological and psychological literatures.” —Allan N. Schore, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and David Geffen School of Medicine. UCLA
“A powerful argument.”—Natural History
“This extraordinary, view-altering series of true stories about the authentic nature of bears reveals them as the sensitive and intelligent beings they are. And in showing that the reality of bears is so different from our usual impressions – that they are such individuals and so prone to peace – Gay Bradshaw has given us not only another startling book but this time a deeply spiritual one.”— Carl Safina, author of Becoming Wild and Beyond Words
“I love Talking with Bears. From dedication to the final page, the book made me openly weep. The tears were of homecoming, and recognition of our place in this world that is our only home. A love for wild nature – and specifically for bears! – informs every word. If we and the world survive, it will in great measure happen because of books like this one.” — Derrick Jensen, author of The Myth of Human Supremacy
“This may be the most exciting, most informative, and most surprising book ever written about animals. It results from a new approach to animal studies, and the findings are overwhelming.”—Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs
“An existentialist’s tract wrapped in a naturalist’s treatise, this unusual volume explores a mighty species from the inside out. . . . A reasoned appeal to morality that’s as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking.”—The Atlantic Monthly
At a time of climate crisis and environmental emergency, when the flaws in our relationship with nature now clearly threaten our very existence, Talking with Bears is a must-read.”— Kevin Van Tighem, author of Bears Without Fear
“An excellent book. The descriptions of animal behaviour are rich and vibrant..enthralling”—Mark Rowlands, Times Literary Supplement
“Carnivore Minds is a pure delight and a magnificent achievement. Think of it as Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals for the twenty-first century. Every page reveals a new idea for looking deeply into animal souls.”—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of Beasts: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Origins of Good and Evil
“A remarkable study of elephant–human interactions.”–Tim Flannery, The New York Review of Books
“Revolutionary and very exciting, this book is important both in terms of elephant biology and elephant welfare.”—Cynthia Moss, Amboseli Trust for Elephants
“Carnivore Minds establishes a sense of urgency to conserve, protect, and respect carnivores by raising important ethical concerns about current wildlife practices . . . a terrific read for anyone curious about understanding or appreciating the mental processes of carnivores specifically and nonhuman animals in general.”—Jennifer E. Smith, Quarterly Review of Biology
“Charlie Russell’s mission continues with this profound book about his lifework. Overwhelming and a must-read for everyone, and especially every bear enthusiast around the world.” — David Bittner, Dr. phil. nat., Biologe
“Talking With Bears is a spellbinding book. G.A. Bradshaw masterfully weaves Charlie Russell’s own words, stories and photographs to provide a glimpse into the uncommon, yet brilliant, methods and approaches that Russell used to further his understanding of bears. In the end, one can’t help but come away from reading Talking With Bears feeling inspired and rejuvenated and much more informed about how humans and bears can and should co-exist” — John E. Marriott, co-author and photographer of What Bears Teach Us and The Pipestone Wolves: The Rise and Fall of a Wolf Family
“The book is intended for a broad audience of readers of popular science and academics alike, and the wonderful narrative style will appeal to readers of all types . . . [Bradshaw’s] storytelling ability and the structure of the book around personal stories, and of course the content itself, make this book a fascinating read.“—Michael M. Lacy, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine
This book. . . is fascinating. . . [and] sheds light on disturbing phenomena relevant to the future not only of elephants, but also of humans subjected to similar disruption. Read it.”—Robert M. May, Professor Lord May of Oxford OM AC Kt FRS
“With panache and care, Gay Bradshaw tackles myths about carnivores. She moves the reader to greater understanding and empathy—critical tasks if we are going to increase humanity’s concern for carnivore thriving.” –Darcia Narvaez, University of Notre Dame
“Bradshaw continues to carve out an immensely important and innovative field that combines animal behavior and psychology, with deep inter-mind—and soul—sensibilities. Beautifully written. This book is a catalyst for societal change.”–Peter H. Kahn, Jr., University of Washington
“Bradshaw suggests we have completely underestimated elephants’ emotional capacities. . . . The evidence that human and elephant behaviors are similar is compelling. . . . This book is engrossing and will appeal to a general audience.”–Paula Kuhumbu, Conservation Biology
“The book forces us to regard other species—those dangerous, frightening, predatory ones that occasionally kill us—in a new light.” –Luke Hunter, Panthera
“Bradshaw goes beyond current trends, uniting two seemingly unrelated fields of science into one: neuropsychology and carnivore biology. She makes a remarkably original contribution by taking the reader into psychological sessions with an interesting cast of charismatic carnivores.”—William J. Ripple, Oregon State University
“In Elephants on the Edge, G. A. Bradshaw helps us face our ethically flawed relationship with animals and nature and what is at stake for all of us.”—John P. Gluck, University of New Mexico; Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University
“Elephants on the Edge is a wide-ranging, passionate, well-researched, and urgent call to action. These magnificent, intelligent, and emotional giants are quintessential poster animals for the wounded world in which we live. Read this book, share it widely, and please do something to increase our compassion footprint before it’s too late. Healing demands collective cross-cultural action now.”—Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado, coauthor with Jessica Pierce of Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals
“At times sad and at times heartwarming, Elephants on the Edge successfully bridges the gap between species. Bradshaw helps us to understand not only elephants, but all animals, including ourselves.”—Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation
“This book opens the door into the soul of the elephant. It will really make you think about our relationship with other animals.”—Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation