Elephant by Dan Wylie: book review

Elephant (2008) is a documentary-style account of everything to do with elephants from their origins to their anatomy. Wylie includes elephants in art, elephants in literature, in poetry, in music, religion, proverbs, hunting, circuses, entertainment, conservation, safaris, and elephants in war time. ‘Even where elephants have never trodden earth, they pop up everywhere in advertising.’

Even Babar the Elephant and Dumbo are mentioned.

There are some interesting facts. For example, there was once miniature mammoths and elephantids isolated on islands, such as Sicily and Malta – dwarf elephants (Elephas falconeri) that were waist high.

It is a small book, but it’s dense with facts, narratives, coloured photographs and diagrams. If you’re an elephant lover, you’ll find it quite fascinating. While some sections are extremely detailed (such as origins and evolution), other sections are brief (such as advertizing, logos and graphics). Nevertheless, there’s enough to be quite informed in a variety of ways.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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