An Alphabet of Animals gathers together in words and photographs some of the many ways in which people have looked at animals and have thought about them. From different ages, both past and present, and from many different parts of the world, this book records in words and photographs how people have responded to the animals around them. Animals have been exploited and abused, but they have also been admired so much that a monkey has been seen as the manifestation of God on earth, and an ox has led the way to Enlightenment. From Ants to Zoos, the Alphabet takes us into the worlds of animals and helps us to see and to understand them in a new way. Many poems and translations are quoted here, but some have been written or made specially for this book.