Hunt for the Shadow Wolf: The lost history of wolves in Britain and the myths and stories that surround them

by Derek Gow

"[Derek Gow is] a wry, profane truth teller who is equal parts yeoman farmer, historical ecologist, and pirate."―Ben Goldfarb, author of  Eager  and  Crossings Renowned rewilder Derek Gow has a that one day we will see the return of the wolf to Britain as it has already returned elsewhere. As Derek worked to reintroduce the beaver, he began to hear stories of the wolf, both real and mythical, and his fascination with this creature grew. With increasing curiosity, Derek started to piece together fragments of information, stories and artefacts to reveal a shadowy creature that first walked proud through these lands and then was hunted to extinction as coexistence turned to fear, hatred – and domination. What Derek came to realize was that the underlying motives behind our hatred were actually far more prosaic and, like most persecutions, to do with power and profit. We turned the wolf into a savage beast and saw its extirpation as a civilizing mission. But the wolf survived far longer than many thought and Derek tells of his sightings of the wolf through folklore and mythology, the records of grand estates and parish churches as well as wolf heads, both real and recreated. With bitingly funny but also tender stories, Hunt for the Shadow Wolf is Derek’s quest to uncover the true nature of this creature because, as we seek to heal our landscape, we must reconcile our relationship with it. Before we can even begin to bring the wolf back, we need to understand it. "I have loved this chase dearly and though what unfolds might be an ending of sorts, I have no intention to let this hunt cease."―Derek Gow, from  Hunt for the Shadow Wolf

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, History, Audiobook, Natural History, Wolves, Animals

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2024

About the author

Derek Gow (b. 1965) is a UK-based reintroduction expert, farmer and author known for his work with watervoles, white storks, wildcats, and Eurasian beavers.

He also imported the first Heck cattle to the UK. However, after aggressive behaviour could harm or even kill handlers, a significant proportion of the herd was culled.

Born in Dundee, he left school when he was 17 and worked in agriculture for five years. Inspired by the writing of [sauthor:Gerald Durrell], he jumped at the chance to manage a European wildlife park in central Scotland in the late 1990s before moving on to develop two nature centres in England. Gow owns a 300 acre farm in Lifton, Devon, which is home to captive breeding facilities, accommodation and a working farm. Much of the land is under the process of rewilding, like the Knepp Estate. The farm is home to many species, including Eurasian lynx, wild boar, beavers, white storks, black storks, common tree frogs, and harvest mice.

Reviews

[viltz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good info, I liked the writing style, loved the illustrations. It feels like half of the book is graphic detail of wolves being hunted and killed which made it hard to pick up which is why my rating is three. The last chapter about reintroduction was fab.

[Suncerae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good: A highly localized tour through Britain for wolves
The Bad: Highly journalistic; confusing structure
The Literary: Some history and mythology; literary quotes at chapter beginnings

Most physical evidence of wolves in Britain is not reliable, but it's likely that they went extinct in the 1600s. However, many local stories and legends conflict with this. Gow spends much of this book meandering through the countryside, following dead-end leads from one small village to another, looking for any reference to wolves. He scours church bulletins, old club photographs, graveyard stone sculptures, family legends, taxidermized appendages, and more. Several reputed wolf skeletons are scattered throughout northern Britain, but they're probably just big dogs. While interesting, it's the other aspects of the book that catch my fancy.

The mythology of wolves looms large in our human brains. Wolves have always been powerful and mysterious creatures, so it's no surprise that we've historically used parts of their bodies for treating ailments, like a wolf forefoot relieving breast pain, a wolf heart curing epilepsy, or even hanging up a wolf head to scare off sorcerers. In the northeast of England, "woof" meant cancer of the stomach, and lumps, knobs, or open sores were also called "wolves". The thirteenth century Italian physician Rogerius described facial lesions that he thought were reminiscent of a wolf's bite as lupus, which is why we now refer to the chronic autoimmune disease as Lupus.

Scottish folk tales include many instances of children being taken away to be raised by wolves, and one clan in particular became known as "the race of the wolves". It's unclear if any of this is based in truth, but there is mention of the specific wolf child Dina Sanchar, who was caught in 1872 and forced into an orphanage, and who spoke only in grunts and barks for the rest of his short life. This story was apparently Rudyard Kipling's inspiration for The Jungle Book.

The pastoral symbolism of Christian iconography certainly puts wolves and foxes and other predators outside the bounds of the righteous. The Brothers Grimm use wolves, especially their presence in dark forests, to great effect, and even the Venerable Bede (673-735) mentions wolves in a description of a wild forest in Sussex. Combined with modern concerns about attacks on livestock, modern farmers and ranchers campaign against the reintroduction of wolves.

On a personal note, the author refers often to two captive wolves adopted by the wildlife park in Kent where he worked. Nadia and Mishka were cute but always a little wild, and Gow's personal relationship with them allows the reader to see these two animals as having distinct personalities and personal agency. These sections add a nice touch.

There's a few things that are difficult about this book, including some of the history. We've punished wolves for a long time. Wolves were viewed as criminals by society throughout the middle ages and often hung from tree limbs. Louis XIII King of France set his dogs against an old wolf for sport, and it was common to cut the hamstrings of a wolf before the fights. In the mid 1800s, a wolf was captured, strung up, it's paws tied together, and it's lips sewn shut. Several more instances of wolf torture are within these pages, but I'll spare you the details.

Unrelated to the content, I find this to be a confusingly arranged book. The structure is sporadic, and there's no coherent narrative, so it's quite an unsteady reading experience.

In the end, this is a book that encourages environmental stewardship and conservation and a sense of hope for moving forward. In both the Americas and Europe, many wolf species have been re-introduced to the wild and are doing quite well. In a European report from 2022, nearly seventeen-thousand wolves have reoccupied landscapes in twenty-eight countries from which they were once eradicated. Solutions to protect livestock are increasing too. Since Gow is arguing specifically for the reintroduction of wolves in Britain, he mentions several scientific studies, young environmentalists, even tourism dollars to champion his cause.

Recommended for environmentalists but Brits in general!

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an enjoyable read! This book discusses the history of wolves, and mixes it with current-day events and stories. At first I was a bit distracted by the writing, there are a lot of unnecessary unusual words, but as soon as I rolled into the story it worked for me, especially during the myths.

The history and stories of wolves in Britain are told and combined with some of the author's own experiences of working with wolves in captivity. The book touches upon the current state of wolves in Europe and the controversy around them. In the Netherlands, recently a few wolves have settled and packs were formed, which really divided people here: nature enthusiasts embrace the wolves, farmers want them shot. From the book I learned Denmark was in a similar situation, which I didn't know.

Wolves are now no longer present in Britain, but the author explores the possibility of their reintroduction. I hope it will one day happen. If we learn from all the measures taken elsewhere, wolves could coexist with us, in Britain and everywhere in West Europe. Wolves are an important part of the ecosystem. They keep populations of deer, rodents and foxes in check. Most ecosystems in West Europe lack a top predator. The wolf could fill that role, just like it did a few hundred years ago.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC to read & review. These are my honest opinions.

[Elizabeth Judd Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn’t a bad book, but it just felt more like someone talking to you about wolves—the chapters were short but each contained lots of stories, and there wasn’t a feel of anything being very organized. Also, although it’s titled as a book about wolves in Britain (their past in Britain, that is) the majority of the book seemed to deal with wolves in other countries. It was OK, it just didn’t feel like the book had a lot to do with the title. And the chapter about werewolves just felt odd (and yes, I like werewolf stuff, but didn’t expect a chapter about it in a book on actual wolves).

[Aven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, as read by Angus King, especially since it gave me perspective on wolf history and restoration that I didn't have as much knowledge on (ie, the history of them in Europe)! Although many people criticize the "story-like" tone of this book, I found it very easy to stay engaged with because of that.

[August Reno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really want to give this a 4.5 as well. some graphic upsetting descriptions of animal harm that bothered me, but not the book's fault. I'm grateful it ended on a hopeful note because it was very tough to read. I've never read a book so in depth on wolves and political histories before, makes me glad to be alive in a time where people care so much :')

[marf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Candid, original, could have used a bit more structure (for the love of god why wasn’t it in chronological order?!)

[katabaza · Rating 2 out of 5]

idk what it was trying to do and what it was trying to be

[James Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enigmatic little book which really the strong touch of a firm editor. I embarked on it in the expectation of a discussion of the history of wolves in Britain, but I soon found the author meandering into Europe and into mythology. It results in a ill-disciplined text. This confusion is further increased by the author’s factual errors - there was no King James I of England in 1597 (p.54 - James VI of Scots did not gain the English Crown until 1603); and Darnaway castle is not “near” Moray (p.31), it is very much situation within Moray. The author also has a tendency to recount a number of facts with little editorial comment. This went from merely being tiresome, to being disturbing when he embarked on a section on human cruelty to wolves. I would welcome an informative book on the history of the wolf in the UK, but this is not it.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and important for understanding the history of the treatment of wolves in the UK and Europe and how this has led to present attitudes. However, it is a violent history of torture and killing that is hard to stomach; one that isn’t fully in the past as we learn of modern conservation efforts, and one example of tagged wolves then being used by humans as an unknowing “Judas” to lead to untagged wolves which are then slaughtered. The book ends on a somewhat positive note with references to some changing mindsets and indication of potential change in conservation attitudes. If you were unsure about wolves before reading this, it will definitely make you an ally to these wonderful creatures, but will break your heart in the process.

[Emjay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

This is the kind of book where you have to trust the process.

For the first 50% or so, I thought this would be a 3-star read for me. Interesting, yes, but Gow's style is meandering and unfocused. It was hard to determine what exactly the point was to the chapters until you got over halfway through each one. His prose tends to wind around each topic, but he is a good storyteller, so the lack of direction wasn't enough to make me put it down.

And then, somewhere around the 150-page mark, it suddenly became clear. I think it was the chapter on the methods we historically employed to destroy wolves—to utterly eradicate them—when Hunt for the Shadow Wolf came into brilliant focus. I studied conservation biology alongside writing in undergrad, and I was definitely in the "let's please restore predators to our ecosystems to regain any semblance of balance" camp before starting this book. I am not the reader Gow needs to convince. And by the time you reach that seminal chapter, Gow has already revealed that most of our fears about wolves are founded on myths. Wolves consumed what we cultivated—livestock—and out of that, we created a monster of pure malice. We put them into our theologies, folklores, laws. Our hatred for them so far outstripped any actual harm they enacted that it would be comical if it wasn't so sad and macabre.

At this point, when Gow begins to detail the many ways we killed and tortured them without thought or question, a reader like myself finally begins to understand just how deeply we have failed.

Oh, I thought, this is not just about restoring an ecosystem. It is about a complete reversal of the way we see ourselves in our world... in a sense, it is about atonement. For that moment of clarity alone, Hunt for the Shadow Wolf is well worth your time.

[Helena meijer]

Good book but one chapter gave me too many chills (about how we humans treat-ed- the wolves)

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book unveils secrets of the wolves that once roamed Great Britain before being hunted to extinction. Though unjustly depicted as savage, wolves left an enduring mark through folklore, myths, and records of grand estates. Piecing together fragments of their mysterious history, this journey reveals the majestic lost creature that civilization tried to erase.

This book contains interesting information, though it was difficult to follow at times. It wasn’t organized to create a meaningful narrative—more a series of stories moving back and forth between myth and history. It’s disturbing to discover how the superstitious attitudes about wolves continue, despite facts demonstrating that wolves are a keystone species, and reintroducing them restores ecosystems to a more natural state.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[miaaa.lenaaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

I enjoyed this but for the majority of it i felt it was a little bit disjointed with just a lot of different stories that felt a bit overwhelming and high key too much information about different methods of wolf hunting but then i was sobbing on a coach at the thought that maybe i could one day look outside in the uk and know that there were wolves out there somewhere, made me v emotional

[Dragonbreath · Rating 1 out of 5]

not what I expected from the blurb...an unpleasant read, there should have been an explicit warning for the accounts of human cruelty towards wolves and other animals. It was almost as if the author enjoyed recounting these incidents...given that he is an environmentalist and wants wolves reintroduced he's going about it in a strange way

[Foggygirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and at times horrifying read about how truly horribly we have treated wolves over the centuries.

[Moravian1297 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book that I probably would never have read, had I not been given it as a gift, and again, thanks to my book shop working daughter and granddaughter haha!
It's also a subject that I'm most definitely interested in and I was certainly looking forward to finding out just when exactly did wild wolves become extinct in Britain?

But I'm afraid, to that end, there is no definitive answer. For starters, there seems to be very little in the way of any archaeological evidence. With the few skulls that have been found or dug up, eventual DNA testing usually proving them to be nothing more than the skulls of domestic dogs (perhaps turned feral), and carbon dating tests, disappointingly putting the dog skulls to as late as anything between the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.
So, the only evidence (if you can call it that!) to go by really, and according to the author, is stories passed down through the generations, and they put lurid tales of wolves right up and into the late eighteenth and through into the early nineteenth centuries.
By what I've read in this book though, I'd go by the records of officially sanctioned wolf hunts by Lairds, land owners and town council committees, which pretty much dwindled and died out by the mid 1700's, that would pretty much be my guess. Perhaps a little later in the highlands of Scotland and later still in Ireland.

However, owing to the lack of much in the way of hard evidence, and despite the author's enthusiasm for this subject shining through, the book does seem to concentrate more on historical tall tales (in Scotland for instance, wolves seemed to constantly be getting smacked on their heads by old crones with pancake griddles!), fables and where the wolf fits into popular culture through the centuries, culminating in the author's quest to find a fabled wolf’s head carved church door handle!
It's definitely more like a rambling, round the campfire, ‘stories to frighten the kids’, type ambience, rather than having any head for hard facts and cold figures.

Now, for my own end of where the wolf lies in popular culture, the fantastic and very witty 1981 John Landis movie, 'An American Werewolf in London', still proudly sits along with 'Braveheart' and 'Goodfellas', in my top three films of all time list (which, TBF, is simply amazing, because nowadays, if I see a film is in any way, shape or form in the ’werewolf’, or indeed, ‘vampire’ genre, I immediately dismiss it and refuse to watch haha!), and the word 'wolf' is in one of my all time favourite lines, and which is also from a movie. Namely, Peter Mullen's dark Scottish comedy, 'Orphans'. Where one of the main characters is cutting about a fairground with a shotgun, looking for the ned whom had stabbed his brother. Inevitably however, this has attracted the attention of a group of kids, who proceed to follow and harass him, so after brandishing the shotgun, in an attempt to scare them off, one of the kids shouts at him, "Yi mad WOLF!" haha. I dunno why the lad calls him a ’wolf’ of all things, but that line has always tickled me and it does seem to fit in with what I've read in this book about wolves and their human given predatory associations and status.

If it's cold, hard facts you're after, this is definitely not the book for you, but if you want in the mood for some tall tales to scare the kids, then fire on in.

I’d also avoid the book if you’re from Cumbernauld, as the author describes your town as ’grotty’ haha!

And lastly, I'm not even sure if it's particularly swayed me to one side of the fence or other, on whether I agree or disagree on reintroducing the wolf back into the wilds of Scotland?! On one hand, do I want an egregiously hungry, big sharp toothed predator roaming about my favourite countryside picnic spots? Or do I........oh wait a minute, hmm, I think I have made up my mind!

[Megan Fraedrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last year, I read a fiction book about a biologist who was reintroducing wolves to Scotland, and I confess I had no idea just how long wolves have been extinct in the UK until I read that. In any case, despite the significant role that wolves play in metaphor and folklore in the English tradition— not to mention Werewolves of London— their actual presence in the British isles is ghostly.

This book explores the history of wolves in Britain and their impact on culture, but it also includes many personal anecdotes of the author’s history with (and fascination with) wolves, which actually ended up being my favorite part of the book. He’s hand raised wolf pups, led herds of cattle past wolf pens and watched ancient instincts activate, even gotten attacked by a territorial mama wolf. His sense of humor is wry and arch and he’s good at making historical accounts of wolves come to life.

The format of this book is slightly rambling. Although split into chapters revolving around loose topics like “were these historic remains really from a wolf?” or “depictions of wolves in architecture,” he jumps from loosely connected story to story. The effect can be disorienting, but that’s also the way my mind works, so I didn’t mind that much.

This author, who is an expert in reintroducing native species and played a role in bringing back beavers in the UK, also believes that wolves existed longer in isolated pockets of Britain and Ireland than is commonly believed. He feels they still can— and someday should be, reintroduced.

One more favorite detail from the book: there are apparently SEVERAL urban legends handed down about women in different parts of Europe getting attacked by wolves and beating them up with, of all things, pancake griddles. It kind of sounds like this was the medieval version of Man Door Hand Hook Car Door.

[Alex Ashmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up from a blind date with a book, and thoroughly enjoyed this read!

Derek Gow has an incredibly conversational voice, taking the reader completely around the houses with tangents and semi-related anecdotes interwoven between historical and ecological insights into the history of wolves within the UK.

While Gow's writing style can be quite convoluted at times, and I would have prefered a bit more clarity in the chapters, I personally engaged with it well and found myself itching to go out and learn more about some of the conservation projects discussed, as well as hunt down Bringing Back the Beaver.

Hunt for the Shadow Wolf covers a wide range of topics including various claims of the death of the 'last wolf in the UK', some insights into the nature of wolves, and their impact on the British Isles in more ways than one. Although I have been left hungry for a little bit more detail in some areas, more than enough references and recommendations for further reading more than cover those persisting curiosities. I would also argue it is a sign of good non-fiction that leads you wanting to continue learning more.

4/5

[Jess B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short book with lots of tales of wolves in Great Britain - both from historical perspectives and his own experience.

As an American, it was hard to imagine the places but the writer was amazing about blending together descriptions (when needed) and the folklore of wolves. The book feels like a thesis or dissertation about the folklore and ending of wolves in Great Britain but I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chelsea Green Publishing for an ARC of this book for an honest review!

[Ross Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very mixed and jumbled book with no clear purpose other than to ramble about wolves.

There is a lot of interesting information in here, but it’s truly all over the place. It really needs a firm editor. I feel like if somebody took a few weeks of sorting a structure and detailed copy and pasting then this may be a good read. But now? It’s frustrating, anecdotal and in places poorly written.

Oh and James I of England didn’t exist in 1597 when he wrote Daemonologie. He was (and remained) James VI of Scots.

[Shahira8826 · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hunt for the Shadow Wolf" by Derek Gow was not what I was expecting. I love wolves and there were way too many descriptions of wolves being tortured and gruesomely killed in this book for my taste.
I overall loved the concept, and learning all the little tidbits of wolf folklore and history, but man, I really didn't need to know all the horrifying ways that humans through the centuries have concocted to hurt and kill one of my favourite animals!

[Jamie Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of my best friends are people who hyper focus on specific animals. I have crow people, chicken people, octopus people, shrimp people, and wolf people. I have a friend who breeds dogs who chase wolves off of ranches, which has increased the wolf population at Yellow Stone, which led to an increase in beavers, pleasing my beaver obsessed friend.

So naturally I had to read this one. I was much pleased with it and will be recommending it to my friends.

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was equal parts disturbed and deeply moved by this book. It conveys the tragic persecution of wolves over centuries and the progressive destruction of our countryside, framing both as critical considerations in the restoration and preservation of British nature.

My stomach turned at the brutality described here, but perhaps that is the point: to ignite anger at the actions of our ancestors and to inspire change at an individual level.

As the saying goes, nothing changes if nothing changes.

[Pallas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming nice little book about wolves (duh) in Britain and other places too. The misguided hate and fear for the animal etc.

You can almost feel that it took time to write (I’m making assumptions here), a collection of stories and thoughts that reminded me of John Lewis-Stempel in a good way.

PS. I have wolf safari on my bucket list.

[Andrew Howarth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written and inspiring, if a bit vague. If you're looking for detail, then this probably isn't for you. I read this whilst in Doñana National Park looking for lynx and hope I live to see the day lynx and wolves return to Britain.

One other note, the book could probably do with a further proofread - there are quite a lot of grammatical mistakes in there.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

i found the content throughout really interesting, but unfortunately the story completely lacked any obvious narrative thread and each chapter was a wildcard about what the theme assistant was which made it really difficult to retain the information personally, i think even just some chapter titles could help fix this otherwise interesting topic

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gow is clearly very knowledgeable about wolves and Britain’s natural history. Some really interesting and historically insightful stories but the structure of the book makes no sense. There is no narrative thread and I couldn’t work out what the focus of each chapter was. It was a bit like listening to my dad talking about farming.

[Minnie Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled to finish this book because honestly... it was boring. The writing has no real direction or chronology, it just reads very journalist-ically and as a list of facts/historical anecdotes. I was reading this for research purposes around wolves and I genuinely dont know if i learned anything of note. I do appreciate the level of research the author did though.

[Josh Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting read on the history of wolves and what lead to their demise. However, I would have really enjoyed more about modern conservation approaches to wolf restoration. This does not detract from the amazing nature writer that Derek is.