Shark

Animal Series

by Dean Crawford

A sleek hunter of the seas, the shark has struck fear into the hearts of men since the days of the first fishermen. Dean Crawford now explores here the long relationship between shark and man, revealing that behind the fearsome caricature is a complex animal that deserves a thoughtful reconsideration. With a lineage stretching back over 100 million years, the shark has evolved into 350 different species, from the great white to the pike-bearing goblin to the tiny cookie-cutter. Crawford compiles here a fascinating narrative that analyzes how and why the animal looms large in our cultural psyche. While sharks have played a prominent part in religion and mythology, they are more commonly perceived as deadly predators—in such films as Jaws and Dr. No —or as symbols of natural violence, as in Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream . Shark ultimately argues, however, that our ill-informed emotional responses, spurred by such representations, have encouraged the wholesale slaughter of sharks—and our ignorance endangers the very existence of the shark today. Both a celebration of their lethal beauty and plea for their conservation, Shark urges us to shed our fears and appreciate the magnificence of this majestic animal.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Natural History, History, Animals

179 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2008

Reviews

[貝晨珊 · Rating 5 out of 5]

AH THIS BOOK MAKES ME SO SAD

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic, readable book that discusses the shark's role in history and culture and contrasts their fierce reputation with scientific fact. It's got a lot of great images that include beautiful photos of sharks, drawings by early naturalists, and shark-inspired artwork.

My favorite chapter was about sharks as they appear in novels, film, and artwork. But my inner b-movie geek feels the need to point out that while one of the referenced movies, Blood Surf, featured a small amount of shark footage, the body count and associated carnage was caused by a giant crocodile. (Yes, I watch a lot of cheesy movies.)

If you're even a little interested in sharks, this book is well worth your time. It's part of a series of animal books, and this one was interesting enough to tempt me into wanting to try some of the others.

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summarizes a good chunk of biological information about sharks and discusses their position within a culture largely fearful and misunderstanding of their very image. For many, sharks are the ultimate monster - having survived largely unchanged for millions of years, seemingly built to kill and complete with black eyes that seem alien to our mammalian sensibilities in their lack of expression. Crawford takes particular care in looking at how popular culture, through inflated news of attacks and fictional Hollywood depictions of anthropomorphic sharks such as "Jaws", has shaped this fear - and how that fear has led to continual slaughter and misunderstanding of these incredible animals. A quick, informative and engaging read - plus pictures!

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another Animal book from Reaktion. Like the others, heavy on social history, fairly light on biology. Totally fine by me. I love sharks, and it was fun getting to read about the history of how sharks are viewed by people, and why, that goes beyond That Movie.

[Evelyn Helsel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read, and I don’t normally like informational books. It kept my attention the whole way through and was definitely worth the hours I spent reading it for school.

[Shanae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am loving this Animal Series by Reaktion Books. They are not in depth scientific, but so far they follow the same format. Let me tell you a little about the animal, here's how it has shown up in myths and legends around the world, here is how it has appeared in art and historically significant events, here is how it has shown up in pop culture around the world, here are modern considerations we should be aware of, here is a timeline of everything we talked about, and FULL COLOR PICTURES sprinkled throughout the book. The Crow book was the same way. Loved it.

While there is no mention of "Baby Shark" in this book, the author does say, "By the time this book is published, it will probably be out of date." And so science texts and discoveries and history of human interaction with animals is. These books are approachable, and I wish they were in my library district so I didn't have to keep requesting them from other states.

Content Considerations:
-Nudity. There is a full frontal photograph of a woman holding a shark above her head in this book. The art paintings also show nude mermaids and naked men in the sea. Cook islands currency also has an image of their legend, a naked woman on a shark. Humans paint myths and legends naked. They were not a significant part of the book, but they are in it.
-Also, there are images of dead sharks from finning which were hard to see.

[cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

“By the time this book is published it will probably be out of date. I hope it is.” 💙.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating social history of sharks!!! Sharks are cool!!!

[Kirsty Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takes a while to get into, very interesting facts, very sad and based around human interaction, could be more information on different types of sharks

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a book about sharks, but this one didn't quite scratch my itch. It's an accessible, matter-of-fact nonfiction read (a bit shallow in places, but oh well) but it doesn't really seem to know what type of book it is or what it's supposed to offer. I learned a few things about shark species, and took away one insight--that Pacific islanders who had no choice but to coexist with sharks tended to wrap them up in their world view or deify them, whereas we Westerners tend to demonize them and obsess over them despite the ridiculously tiny odds of ever encountering a wild, live shark, not to mention being injured by one. Still, I wished Crawford had settled into his narrative somewhere and really gone to town--either give me a master class on shark biology and behavior, or dig deeper into the human id that fears big teeth in dark water. Susan Casey's The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks is arguably a less responsible but more affecting read.

[UConnCo-op · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Tis the season for sharks! These scary guys are misunderstood. This book helps explain their finer points.
-Bonnie-

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful and well-written observation of human-shark relations. Sharks and Damien Hirst. Sharks and Disney, Yahoo. Sharks and Happy Days. Sharks and sex.

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting biological and cultural treatise on sharks. The pictures are especially gorgeous.