Love, War, and Circuses: The Age-Old Relationship Between Elephants and Humans

by Eric Scigliano

Describes the historical relationship between elephants and humans, discussing their ecological significance, prospects for their extinction, efforts to preserve the species, and the use of elephants in warfare and industry.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

358 pages, Hardcover

First published June 19, 2002

Reviews

[DW Rowlands · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty interesting, and I particularly liked the earlier chapters, where Scigliano talks about elephants in early human societies, and humans' interactions with extinct elephant species and genera. I admit I got a bit bored with his discussions of his personal experiences in the later chapters, though.

[RYD · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of two histories I read recently of elephants. Years ago, I saw elephant up close while traveling in Southeast Asia, but for some reason, they have never spoken to me in the ways that some other animals have. This book gave me a renewed appreciation of them though, and I recant.

[jj Grilliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts out a little slow, but then picks up. I like all the different cultures and their feelings towards elephants. This book was published in 2002, so it was written before the end of Ringling Brothers circus.

[Trenchologist · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot to slog through here; it was jam-packed with the author's obvious love and longtime fascination with his subject, which is both great and overwhelming. Several paragraphs seemed to have the 'but wait, just a bit more' feel, in the sense that every detail and fact was so exciting to him that it couldn't be denied us; after enough of that I started to glaze over and skim. However, the construct follows a timeline of sorts, and that lends structure while layering information that aides in the readability and understanding of the prior groundwork fact-telling the further along in the book you get. Covers myth, legend, religion, historic and modern practices, as well as real people and real elephants. Doesn't lead anywhere, no conclusion, simply a telling. Difficult at times, and made me want to go buy all of WY and rescue as many elephants I can then turn them loose there, while lamenting all the ones lost far before my time and well beyond the reach of my quite limited powers and persuasions.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone with a passion for elephants this book is a must read. I'll admit that it is a little dry, especially the first few chapters. However, the narrative gets increasingly compelling and the last half of the book is what makes it a worthwhile read.

The history of our relationship with elephants through circuses and zoos is examined thoroughly and served to cement my feelings about both institutions and their treatment of elephants.

Scigliano's last few sentences will remain with me: "If through greed and negligence we drive them (elephants) from the earth, our story as well as theirs will be unfinished. When their lives are done, ours will be diminished too. The world will be a small and meager place when it has room only for us."

[Shahrun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first 87 pages rather hard going. It still wasn't easy after that though (for one thing there are many unpronounceable names etc). But the more I read, the more I got into this book. I was fascinated, horrified and worried by what I was reading. I cannot believe how elephants get treated at zoos! (never mind the circuses/travelling shows!) I think if you have to use brute force to get an animal (or human) to do something, that should tell you that what you are doing is wrong! (unless perhaps you are detaining a murderer/rapist etc). Reading this book has made me rather alarmed at what humans are doing to the animal world.

[Clara Heintzelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this book can get a little dry, but the rest is very interesting. I found it very cool that there are actually multiple types of elephants. The traditional elephant that everyone sees on signs and in ads are the African elephants. There are African and Asian elephants, which are quite different. The African elephants are the stereotypical, big, tusked elephants. And the Asian elephants have "smaller ears, rounder heads, curly fuzz of residual hair, and smoother skin, often mottled with pink." They are also tuskless. I never knew there was a difference. Very interesting!

[TwoDrinks · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a bit sad I didn't enjoy this but in truth, I found it a struggle to read and resorted to skimming it. It seems to be marketed as a reading book when in fact it reads more like an academic book. I found the language a bit too verbose to be enjoyable and even though I've travelled around Asia and understand the importance of elephants in Asian culture, this book just didn't infect me with the author's passion for elephants.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting info on the affect of elephants on early human environments (I'm just getting started but I've always been interested in this animal so it's fascinating).
Not an easy read but I would recommend it to anyone who is curious about elephants and how they've been treated (or mistreated).

[Ratforce]

Since you’ve recently read books about elephants, you might be interested in Eric Scigliano’s nonfiction book entitled Love, War, and Circuses: The Age-Old Relationship between Elephants and Humans.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

From wooly mammoths to Barnum and Bailey, everything you ever wanted to know about elephant interactions with people.