The Wolf Within

by Bryan Sykes

How extraordinary is the everyday sight of a human walking his dog - a highly evolved primate and a savage carnivore, whose ancestors were once mortal enemies, living side by side as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Whether we like to think so or not, everything about a dog, from its appearance to its senses and behaviours, is just a version of the wolf, albeit attenuated or enhanced by at least 20,000 years of selection. Selection has done amazing things to create today's dog, but the scaffolding on which it is built remains that of the wolf.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Dogs, Nature, History, Biology

230 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2018

About the author

Bryan Clifford Sykes was a renowned British geneticist and science writer who served as a Fellow of Wolfson College and Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford. He was a pioneering researcher in the field of ancient DNA and was among the first to retrieve DNA from ancient human remains, with his landmark 1989 study published in Nature. He played a significant role in high-profile cases, including the analysis of DNA from Ötzi the Iceman.
Sykes gained widespread recognition for his popular science books, especially The Seven Daughters of Eve (2001), in which he explained how mitochondrial DNA could trace maternal ancestry back to prehistoric women, whom he described as "clan mothers". In Blood of the Isles (2006), he explored the genetic roots of the British and Irish people, arguing that modern populations largely descended from early Mesolithic and Neolithic settlers, with limited genetic input from later groups like the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings.
He was also known for investigating cryptozoological mysteries, including the alleged Yeti, suggesting some samples might belong to a rare bear hybrid, though later studies contested his findings.
Educated at Eltham College, the University of Liverpool, Bristol, and Oxford, Sykes authored numerous scientific papers. He died in December 2020, leaving a lasting impact on genetic genealogy and public understanding of human ancestry.

Reviews

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's always the whiff of snake oil in the air when a publisher puts the author's academic qualification on the front of a book. Yet Professor Bryan Sykes wears his laurels lightly - in fact I wish there had been a bit more detailed science content in what turned out to be a real curate's egg of a read.

You don't have to be a dog lover to find this book on the development of dogs from wolves interesting (in fact Sykes claims he isn't, though his wife is), but it certainly helps - and I am. Probably the most fascinating sections concentrate on wolves. We discover that real wolves are nothing like the merciless killing machines of legend - not that they don't kill, of course, but their behaviour is much more nuanced. Sykes describes a hypothetical but convincing scenario for wolves to first begin working with humans as collaborative hunters, each benefiting from the others' skills.

Sykes argues that the wolves' pack behaviour makes them ideally suited to take on the costs and benefits of working with others. We then see how with time, wolves have become the incredibly diverse species - the most varied in form of all mammal species - that are modern dogs. Along the way, we inevitably meet the remarkable Belyaev experiments, which over decades of selective breeding for cooperativeness showed that arctic foxes became more and like dogs, not only in behaviour but in appearance.

There's also plenty on the breeding of dogs, the problems that emerge from the pedigree system of breeding from a small, related stock, and the genetic implications and potential solutions for some of the inbreeding problems.

This is all handled in a very conversational style, though as mentioned above, I wish there had been a bit more in-depth science. Of itself, this light approach is a good thing, but the dark side of the curate's egg is that the book is oddly structured, with some parts thrown in with no apparent thought for the way it reads. Some of the text, particularly a long set of interviews by Sykes' wife with dog owners seems not to add anything to the message of the book.

The four star rating is for the good bits, particularly the parts on wolves, the development of dog breeds and genetics. If you are interested in dogs (or wolves), it's well worth reading for these alone.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a dog person. I was pretty much raised from birth until I was 8 by Ulysses, a Doberman who was more like a grumpy older brother. My wife calls my English Pointer, Lily, my mistress since she says we spend more quality time together. I like science books, so obviously I went into this with a lot of interest.

I was somewhat nonplussed when the book led off with a fictional tale. I found it interesting & compelling, though. Sykes believes that wolves & man started hunting together long before we had villages for them to scrounge around. It makes sense. We're both social creatures & excel at different parts of the hunt. Wolves can chase the game much better, but tend to get hurt during the kill at the end where men with their spears excelled. Wolves also liked guts & innards more than we do, so the kill was well divided.

Dogs are all descended from wolves. I got that much, but he managed to confuse the hell out of me by skipping around a lot. His explanations of genetics were often confusing, too. He kept trying to dumb them down, going so far as to use 'gene' when he meant 'allele', but then he'd mention gene & chemical names which just made it more complex. He never really gave a basic lesson on genetics, which I believe I have, & sometimes strayed into areas where I was lost. (I just finished reading a book on epigenetics, too.) Anyway, I wasn't impressed with those parts & they were scattered throughout the book.

He did make it clear that DNA testing isn't as clear cut as I thought it was. He describes how some tests are done & did a good job pointing out the difference between using mitochondrial DNA & that of the cell. M-DNA can trace the maternal line while body cells will reflect that of both parents. Surprisingly, he made no mention of tracing the Y gene. Maybe they haven't done that in dogs.

Towards the end, he mentions Belyayev's fox experiment & does a great job giving the background for it. He mentions how oxytocin, the hormone involved in maternal bonding, is high in them. I was surprised he didn't mention the lower level of cortisol & the higher levels of serotonin, though. He seemed to put it all just on oxytocin & there was no mention of checking their DNA to see if there were unexpected changes. That seems a big gap.

The last chapter is discussions with dog owners about how they feel about their dogs. I skipped through it pretty quick. Most seemed pretty obvious & there wasn't much new info.

All in all, it was OK. There was some really good info, but it was scattered about & sometimes confusing because of that. I really want to give it higher marks, but I think there are probably better books out there.

Not the correct edition. Mine has this title, but I didn't see any audio editions for this & saw a couple of similar but different titles. I guess that's UK & US publishing names. This one was very well narrated. I also had the ebook to refer to. I suggest a text copy if you're listening to this.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt... kind of all over the place. Like it did not quite know what to be.

It starts off with a fictional narrative about how wolves perceived humans. It goes into human artifacts that linked humans to wolves. Then it goes into the genetics of wolves and dogs. Then there's this really long and tedious chapter about humans and their pets that just... has no point and is sooo repetitive (Do you love your dog... spoiler alert! Yes). And then this weird divergence into cloning?? Followed by a really anticlimactic end.

One big issue is that the author's admittance of his dislike or indifference to dogs (and proud of it!) did the book absolutely no favors. A dog attacked me once! My wife is going to interview the dog people. Don't worry this is the only time I was emotional. Your British is showing.... SHEESH. I think that's why the book had so little emotional heft.

There were a few sections that were really enjoyable and that is (unsurprisingly) where the author's passion was shown. They were the genetics chapters. They are stymied a little by the author's recalcitrance at putting real deep science in a pop science book. It was like he was so afraid to talk about meiosis and inheritance when the science in the book was usually pretty surface level biology 101. However, he had some good pieces on the inheritance patterns and mutations among different dog breeds like Dalmatians and Rhodesian Ridgebacks. It was a really cool chapter.

There was also a deep desire (for whatever reason) to defend breeders and what they do as if 'breed purity' were such an important thing. So in the most tedious chapter with interviews between dog owners and his wife (cuz.. dogs! bah!) there are NO mutts. Gasp!

I still gave the book a 3 because I'm a sucker for dogs and I liked the genetics part. I also found his theory on domestication intriguing (It's not as simple as people make it out to be) though honestly he never quite follows that the thread through to the end very well. Oh well.

[Jora · Rating 5 out of 5]

A factual and interesting read. This is not a reference book or a novel, but more of a nonfiction story. I didn't get a lot of general information on "our dog's genetic evolution," but I still find it worth reading. I will continue reading other books on this subject to continue my understanding of this topic. This book is a little sciencey, so some paragraphs are going to have to be read a few times over for proper understanding. I would recommend this for adults interesting in doggy genetic evolution and children A-ok with looking up words or breaking them down to find the meaning.

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been much better at answering it’s set question - how was the ancient partnership between human and wolf formed? - if it had been co-authored by a historian.

It fluctuates between quite clear popular science writing and poor prose. The author’s attempt to clarify complex genetic concepts in lay terms sometimes succeeds, but often becomes cluttered and inconsistent. It’s not a terrible read, but it doesn’t seem to have had a particularly caring editor.

Over half the book dives into the specifics of genetics that have little or nothing to do with “the wolf within” as one might expect from the title, which feels as if the the author found out midway that he wanted to write a different book than he’d set out to, and didn’t bother correct what was already written.

I’d recommend the first half to people interested in the joined history of wolves/dogs and humans, and would recommend the second half to people interested in pedigree genetics.

The chapter with dog-owners’ interviews I would recommend to nobody.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I judged this book’s cover and got what I deserved: a scientific look at the link between wolves and dogs. I suppose I was dazzled by the beautiful German Shepherd and by the use of ‘amazing’ in the subtitle. Some folks may have been amazed but I was frequently dazed instead, as the scientist writing this did not water it down much. He gives perfectly sound (I assume) explanations of chromosomes and genes and such science-y stuff, while I kept waiting to find out how my couch potato can be persuaded to spend more than 5 minutes outside. Eventually the tone of the book shifts to an interview format, where the writer turns over the duties to his wife, who chooses, often randomly, dog owners and asks a series of questions. This adds steam to the sometimes sluggish parts describing the aforementioned science-y stuff. “What breed is your dog?” “How did you come to choose him?” “Is she considered part of your family?” “Would you consider having your dog cloned after it has died?” This all has less to do with wolves than it does our current relationships with dogs, which can in its own way be food for thought.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bryan Sykes is an excellent writer. He is a population geneticist, and in this book he shares his research of the dogs that evolved symbiotically with humans to become what we now know as “man’s best friend.”

Sykes traces the origins of the domestic dog from wolves who learned to expand their family or pack to include humans. This caused both humans and the wolves (which became prehistoric dogs) to harvest much more food in the hunt. Humans also expanded their families to include dogs.

[Natasja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wat een interessant boek!

Professor Brian Sykes neemt je mee terug in de tijd, om de geschiedenis van 'man's best friend' stap voor stap aan je uit te leggen. Hoe is de hond ontstaan uit de wolf en hoe is de mens zo hecht geworden met de hond en vice versa? Hoe zijn de talloze rassen ontstaan en waar komt het verschil tussen (het karakter van) een jachthond en een waakhond weg?

Ook neemt Sykes je mee in een zeer gedetailleerde uitleg over het genetische aspect van al deze ontwikkelingen. Hoewel dit het boek soms redelijk 'heavy' maakt, voegt het absoluut veel toe aan het boek.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are fascinated by the fact that every dog, from a tiny Chihuahua to an enormous Great Dane, is 100% descended from wolves, you will enjoy this non-fiction book. The author also discusses how it might have happened that two fearsome predators, man and wolf, came together for mutual benefit.

[Kyleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like this book didn't know what exactly it wanted to be. The first part is concerned with genetics and I have to admit I skipped through a lot of it since it was incomprehensible and uninteresting to the laywoman like me. The large chunk at the end is Sykes' wife Ulla interviewing random dogs owners, many from Hyde Park/London, asking them all of they love their dog, the lengths they would go through and if they would clone their dog. Bizarre.

Sykes is not a dog-person and doesn't really like dogs (unlike his wife), and I actually really liked that this is the first dog book I've ever read written by person not into dogs (although there was a staffy - naturally - at a shelter that pulled a little at his heartstrings - for the first and last time).

I learned some interesting things about wolves, too.

[John B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, an endearing little pop science book that is well researched. I think parts of it are a bit rudimentary if you have a genetics background, but I did learn something, and chapters are well designed to briskly cover different aspects of the topic of dog genetics. If you love dogs, you’ll enjoy it!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once a Wolf is an amazing book (except for Chapter 23) for dog lovers and/or anyone interested in genetics and the evolution of the dog. I could not put it down and have quickly read through this book and intend to read the book again. The book provides a well written and scientifically backed (Upper Palaeolithic) evolution of the dog (with some writer liberties that make sense) to today's beloved pet and multitude of dog breeds. He also provides information on dog breeds and standards which takes a fact based opinion and not an emotional one, probably due to his honesty that he is not a huge dog lover. In my opinion, this respect for the dog, but not huge love, is what makes this book so powerful and believable. At the heart, he is a scientist, a geneticist, whose research concentrated on the human past and that past lead him to question the remarkable evolution of the dog. Sykes clarifies the ago old question of where did the dog come from. Sykes demonstrates that the evolution from wolf to dog probably started as a symbiotic relationship that has gradually evolved to our beloved family member of today. If you have any interest in starting to learn about genetics; its successes and its limitation, this book is for you. Sykes does an excellent job of providing a balance between science and readability. Sykes also explains how and why humans have developed such a love of the dog, but pure hate and misunderstanding of the wolf - how and why is the wolf the story of such evil? The only Chapter I did not enjoy was Chapter 23. This Chapter is Ulla's interviews of dog owners and they written more as random thoughts than a short story. I struggled to understand the purpose in the book and ended up skipping them. Perhaps when I reread the book, I will be able to enjoy the Chapter. It just doesn't fit with the science and the writing throughout the book. It should have been left out or at the end of the book after Chapters 24 and Chapter 25. These Chapters go back to the science and are worth reading (Cloning and Beyond the Reach of Reason).

[Daisy Treloar · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out so interestingly - I loved the introduction and Sykes' imagined first instance of man and dog's co-operation.

But, unfortunately, it developed into a tonal mess. I thought the boringly dense chapters on dog genetics would never end, and craved the more personal narrative we began the book with. I should have been careful what I wished for.

What lay ahead instead were a ceaseless series of almost identical interviews wherein Sykes' wife asks hordes of middle-class dog owners ambling through Hyde Park about their relationships to their beloved pooches. And just as when it might get interesting -a ROBOT dog is brought into the mix (think of the ethical conundrums!) - we're soon back to the same old unvaried tosh. Don't get me wrong, interviews are a valuable research tool; but a distinguished scientist must surely realise that to get a more diverse and interesting selection of the general public's views on their canine companions one would have to venture far further than the affluent confines of Hyde Park? Anyone who lives within walking distance of the most famous park in one of the most expensive cities in the world cannot possibly be considered to account for the complete range of people living in London, let alone the UK or even the world (which, considering the fact that interviews were also conducted in Skye, Mallorca, and New Zealand, they were meant to).

It's a shame because this truly is a fascinating subject. It's like, because Sykes focuses on pedigree genetics so heavily, his editors told him to add a bit of subjectivity in there to appeal to a wider audience. On the contrary, this book should have been either an academic summary or a fictionalised history of the dog, not a strange and jarring amalgamation of the two.

[Alexhounder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd book to review, as it does what it says on the tin - tells the reader about the evolution of the domestic dog - but it is totally different to what one would expect.

When the blurb mentions it is written by a geneticist, it 100% means it: this is a book primarily about genetics, and goes into a reasonable amount of detail regarding how genetics works and the science and technics surrounding discovery and research. There is a sprinkling of "dog" amongst it, but this could solely be a book about genetics.

I work with dogs, and for my degree I had to study genetics in a reasonable bit of depth. This book would've helped with my study, and I think if I hadn't had that background, this book would be a confusing read. The author does his best to explain, but I think if you don't have a level of prior knowledge, you need to have an intense interest in genetics to find this read enjoyable. It's a slog.

I'm rating this book 3 stars, because whilst it was good, it was bloody boring and the subject matter, dogs, were definitely an afterthought. It was also disappointing that the author got the name wrong of someone he references: JOHN Bradshaw is an ethologist he specialises in dogs and has wrote In Defense of Dogs (which I would highly recommend). PAUL Bradshaw is a former English footballer(!) so I'm not sure who proof reads or edited the book, but they messed up there.

I would recommend this book for a genetics geek first and a dog lover second. If you're wanting a nice literary discussion (sprinkled with facts) about the domestication of Fido, this is not the book for you.

[Licho · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the intro of Once A Wolf the author admits that he's not really a dog person, which still could have been a really good book if he kept the focus on genetics. It might not have been sentimental, but it could have been more an appreciation for what is essentially human kinds first technological wonder, the dog.

Instead the disinterest in the topic bleeds through and makes it difficult to really engage with the text as a reader. It doesn't really take form till chapter 13 through 21, drops off again till chapter 24, and then ends. This is out of 25 chapters total. It also feels like the authors tries to supplement his lack of interest in the canine subject matter with some bouts of creative writing (the first chapter is pure fiction, and when he's talking about genetics he can get down right poetic).

Bryan Sykes clearly knows and cares about the science he's talking about in this book, and this is a worthwhile read for that alone. I'm just not sure who he was writing this for, because it was certainly not for himself, it wasn't for dog lovers, and it doesn't really seem to be for people who are interested in an overview on genetics.

So even though there is a lot of information to be had in Once A Wolf, I'm not sure why you would pick this book in particular when there are others that combine the topics of genetics and domesticated animals in a much more engaging way. Such as Domesticated by Richard C. Francis, A Matter of Breeding by Michael Brandow, or How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog) by Lee Alan Dugatkin and Lyudmilla Trut.

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found many illuminating and helpful details about what we do and don't know about dog genetics and why in this book. I was familiar with some of the basics (as a kid I wanted to grow up to be a genetic engineer for a while), like the tame foxes study and the effects of domestication, but the sequencing of the dog genome and what actually gets compared to what for different breeds was new and interesting to me. (It makes sense that you'll get longer match sequences for species which were reduced to a very small population at one point, but sad. I was encouraged by the Dalmatian hyperurea experiments and the successful pointer cross that helped address that painful situation!) The interviews with dog owners at the end kind of belonged in a different book... I appreciated the author's attempt, as a non-dog-person, to get some dog-person content in there, and I admit I was judging him a bit at first for writing a whole book about dogs when he basically doesn't like them, but... he tried? At least he loves genetics and science? The interviews were interesting, and often sweet, but very different in tone than the rest of it. The most interesting part of that section, though, was discovering that the author lived in Sorleigh Maclean's cottage on the Isle of Skye. Serious poetry jealousy.

[SeaShore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book (published 2019). I think most people have accepted that our current domesticated pets, dogs whether cloned or not, evolved from wolves. He goes into the nitty-gritty of the biology of a typical cell and the study of sequencing DNA.
The daunting task of actually sequencing DNA began in 1977 ---Fred Sanger published the entire sequence of a simple virus -- Sanger went on to sequence human mitochondrial DNA in 1981.
Sykes' writing is clear, straightforward, being very informative in a readable fashion. I liked his description of humans co-existing with the original wolf and how they became to live together 'back in the day'.
His is a geneticist in England and his expertise in bone led to his involvement in the effort to extract DNA from ancient specimens. He was part of the 'Bigfoot files' production of 2015.

"For Sykes it was all education as entertainment -he never seriously believed that such creatures existed but sought to encourage curiosity rather that squashing it."

As humans, we are always on a quest for our origin and this search includes how migration occurred. Geneticists study the sequencing of genes to connect the dots in history, called genetic archaeology. Each of our cells contains many mitochondria, consequently, many mitochondrial DNA. This book reminded me of the importance of studying mitochondria not just to understand origins but also to understand neurodegenerative diseases - Mitochondrial genome contains genes essential for function. Mitochondria fission may allow for removal of debris and damaged mitochondria.

I am also reading another of his books, Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Last Neanderthal: A Geneticist's Search for Modern Apemen published in 2016.


I just read that Sykes died at age 73 in 2020.

[Immie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sachbücher sind immer ein Thema für sich. Manche liest man in kürzester Zeit durch, für andere braucht man schon mal ein paar Monate.
So ging es mir - trotz des spannenden Themas - bei „Darwins Hund“ von Bryan Sykes.
Der Autor ist Genetiker und, wie er selbst von sich behauptet, kein Hundefreund. Er hat sich dem Thema „Bester Freund des Menschen“ von einer eher unüblichen Seite genähert.
Ich fand das Buch unterhaltsam und interessant. Es war voller Informationen zu den Themen Genetik, Hund und Hundehaltung.
Oft habe ich etwas Zeit und Abstand von dem Buch gebraucht, um das Gelesene sacken zu lassen, was die lange Lesephase erklärt. Trotzdem hat mich der Inhalt unheimlich fasziniert und ich kann das Buch jedem, der sich entweder für das Thema Hund oder Genetik oder beides interessiert, nur weiterempfehlen.

[Ina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book begins with a very engaging chapter that speculated about how the relationship between humans and dogs began. Then it is an unevenly detailed, somewhat choppy description of the genetics of modern day dogs that all trace back to a wolf. With unbelievable speed the wolf and the human at the time developed a trusting affectionate relationship over the years, like no other two species on earth. It is fascinating to think about a Great Dane and Chihuaha both containing the same wolf gene, but that is what the science described in this book tell us. I think I would have enjoyed this more if the descriptions of the science were a bit more engaging and readable to dog lovers who are not geneticists.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

My partner bought me this book as a Christmas present, since I love all things wolf-related. I was at first disappointed that it did not contain nearly as much about wolves as I'd expected and was focused largely on dogs and their owners. The book did have a number of interesting facts throughout which kept me reading and I found the science behind domestication and genetic diseases very interesting. I think the author could have picked a more varied cross section of dog owners to interview; it was too heavily focussed on the super wealthy, pedigree dog owners of central London. I think he could have interviewed more working class people and explored the relationships they have with their dogs.

[Dorthe · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a strange book, written by a self-proclaimed non-dog person about wolves and dogs. The speculative story at the beginning has a female wolf - named Lupa (yes, I know) - as its protagonist and seems to want to be fiction, but is suffocatingly heavy with exposition. The 'Lupa' name is only one glaring anacronism: who can believe that an ancient wolf will conceive of time in weeks?

It may be unfair to this book, but I can't help comparing it with Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds by Bernd Heinrich, which is brilliant.

[Joe Miley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good read on what science has to say about how "man's best friend" originated from wolves, including the dangers of pure breeds and cloning. Word of warning: this is a freshman-year of college level of genetics discussion at times, but worthy to work through, as it is necessary to include in your intellicultual inventory as we enter a world of genetic modifications and "23 and me." The book also changes gears between the pure science of say, using mitochrondia DNA to trace dogs heritage to wolves, to behaviorial science of wolves, and to interviews of dog owners in London. So if your eyes glaze over in the DNA sections, hold the course! Easier reading is ahead.

[Rachel Welton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this quirky collection of dog related stuff. There didn't seem to be a sane thread running through it and I nearly gave up during the endless transcripts section, but overall it had enough interesting stuff in it to keep me going.
My biggest complaint is that the book didn't seem to know its audience. At one moment the author is chatting about homozygous recessive genes with long coded names, and the next asking pooch owners if they were planning to buy Fluffy a diamante collar. Despite delivering something for everyone, I suspect nobody will be entirely satisfied.
Still, I'd encourage people to give it a go. There's plenty of interesting stuff in there.

[Mayan Botts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love books by Bryan Sykes, his insights, explanations, and overall love of genetics make for great reads in the science lover's opinion.

That being said this book was a bit of a let down. It started off great but towards the end had FIFTY-FOUR pages devoted to dog owner interviews conducted by his wife (not a scientist). Why? Why would he include this? Especially when all of the interviews said. the. same. thing!

Towards the end of the chapter he did a dog rescue visit and a short page or two on the history of the rescue. That was interesting and I wish he had gone into greater detail with humans looking after dogs as a species vs individual family dogs.

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history of dog evolution, focusing on the genetic aspects of dogs and wolves. Sykes doesn't only deal with genetics, but also takes into account fossil evidence and zoological studies. The stucture of the book is a bit erratic, and the chapter of interviews with dog owners is rather out of place, but on the whole the book is interesting in terms of the origin and evolution of dogs and the various dog breeds. The book is written in a conversational style with minimal use of jargon. I just wish there had been more details to go with the science bits.

[Bridget · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly do not know what possessed this person to write a book about dogs: he does not like them or seem to have any inkling of why other people might, and indeed seems willfully ignorant about it. The first 2/3 would probably warrant a 3.5/5 rating but the last part was completely superfluous: it was his wife interviewing a bunch of dog owners and asking them "for Bryan, who is a scientist" why they loved their dogs (which they all answered quite coherently); the author then summed up the whole discussion by saying that nobody could give a reason why they loved their dogs. Seriously?!

[Christie Bane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a strange combination of too much science (I don't care about DNA) and too little (interviews with pet owners about why they love their dogs? Who cares?) for me. It was well-written, and people who are more scientific than me will probably really enjoy it. I forgot to review it right after I read it and now, a week later, all I remember is that it confirmed that dogs evolved from wolves and no other species, which I am pretty sure I already knew.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely informative book; very thorough on the genetic history of all dog breeds. Occasionally a bit tough to read. Sykes does not skimp on discussing genes, diseases, and the technical phrases to understand this elaborate history. Well worth the learning process and a second read to fully grasp the material, although a background in biology might make the process easier.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wolf Within traces the genetic descent of dogs from wolves and the radiation of today's many breeds – a bit uneven in places, it is a fascinating book overall. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019...

[Rém · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bryan Sykes' The Wolf Within is a fascinating novel exploring the genetic and sociological history of the domesticated dog from its original wolf ancestors. Sykes also examines our relationships to our furry friends, and how these have evolved across history and cultures, and what science is contributing next to our understanding of these brilliant creatures.

Sykes explains scientific concepts within the book with metaphors and analogies that are easily comprehended and visualised, making his work not just a general "pop science" book, but an easily accessible educational novel -- all without losing its charm.