BEARS: A BRIEF HISTORY

Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2007 (Paperback 2008)
Translated by Lori Lantz, Ph.D.

Other editions: Italy (Bollati Boringhieri Editore), China (Shanghai Sanhui Culture and Press), Taiwan (Rive Gauche Publishing), Estonia (Olion), Turkey (E Yayinlari), South Korea (Thinking Tree Publishing), Japan (Hakusui-sha), Germany (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft)

"Brunner's book is full of information about the relationship between bears and humans, and is delightfully illustrated with period engravings."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"To think about bears is to put yourself in a quandary, according to Bernd Brunner: "Are they teddies to love, endangered animals to save, or beasts to fear?" Perhaps you don't think enough of bears to ponder such profundities, but after reading Brunner's Bears, a scientific and cultural history of the animal, you will. BEARS ... is packed with intriguing facts and miscellany. ... Brunner, an independent scholar and author of an equally quirky study of the aquarium, THE OCEAN AT HOME, has gone a long way to demystify the iconic creature."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

"...dense with information that even arctophiles may have missed... Growwwl."
THE GUARDIAN

"A little gem." William Grimes, THE NEW YORK TIMES

"This droll, heavily illustrated history of the relationship between humans and bears brims with curious facts and anecdotes. ... Brunner adroitly details the ways bears have been demonized, revered, and anthropomorphized by cultures that see them in contradictory terms - both lazy and fierce, wily and dim-witted-and tells the sad stories of humanity's attempts to domesticate and showcase these majestic, primarily reclusive beings." THE NEW YORKER

"A wonderful book, a vivid cultural history of interaction between human beings and bears. A brief but never trivial book that must captivate anyone who has cuddled a teddy or longed for the wild."
Simon Barnes, THE TIMES

"Richly researched... A fascinating and comprehensive biography... Brunner suceeds in pushing readers worldwide to look anew at creatures that have been in our orbit, at least peripherally, forever. All species should have such an eloquent advocate."
Kim Hughes, THE TORONTO STAR

"Brunner's prose can take on a distinctly Sebaldian, melancholic tone. His humour is deadpan. ... Bears is a veritable fount of arcane ursulania and a delight on every page, not least in the plethora of engravings and illustrations; the perfect Christmas book."
Philip Hoare, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

"A beguiling book. ... Brunner entertainingly demonstrates why bears are creatures to be admired from a great distance. This pacy narrative shows us bears throughout time - from prehistoric cave bears and early humans, and the resulting cave paintings, to the medieval barbarities of bear-baiting, to the age of the explorers who discovered, then shot, countless endangered species in the name of science, to our current neuroses concerning the threat to bears' disappearing habitats."
Sinclair McKay, THE TELEGRAPH

"A small, beautifully designed book, Bernd Brunner's BEARS examines the shared history of people and bears-a sad, often brutal story punctuated here and there with humor and charm."
Adam Begley, THE NEW YORK POST

"A wonderful book... A beguiling survey of the long and bruising (mostly for the bears) history of humans and bears. Brunner is the right man for the job ... has sluiced centuries of bear lore and research to bring forth just the nuggets we'd want to know, without bogging down in side issues or academic hedging."
Neal Matthews, THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

"A small book with a big bite, Bears is a delightful new introduction to the natural history of a creature that has had a big impact in many areas of the world. . . . A well-founded and informative text." THE BLOOMSBURY REVIEW

"This well-written book provides a compact, readable, fast-paced survey of the world's bears . . . deserves a place in both public and academic libraries. . . . Highly recommended." CHOICE

"Bears find a peculiar place in human thought, filling the role of relative and competitor simultaneously, and this dual identity is what Brunner examines here. ... The author spices his narrative with numerous anecdotes, and the period illustrations throughout exemplify the bear's dual role in human history."
BOOKLIST

"Brunner's comprehensive book on the history of humans and their encounters with bears is one of the most complete that has been written. ... The readable text is accompanied by lively illustrations that include sketches, photographs, and wood carvings."
LIBRARY JOURNAL

"BEARS ... will enthrall readers of any age. ... His detailed documentation uncovers all facets of the scientific process, even the errors. Linnaeus sometimes got it all wrong!"
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION

"Highly recommended"
SCIENCE BOOKS & FILMS (AAAS)

"An easy to read and compact work, BEARS is packed with facts, stories, and light humor, and will have global appeal because these animals appear universally in history, science, literature, religion, ritual, culture, and myth."
Marc Bekoff

Interview by Felice Cimatti in LA STAMPA on "Uomini e Orsi"

Review in RADIKAL, Istanbul