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“Animal History – History as if Animals Mattered” edited by Andrew Linzey and Clair Linzey, published by Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock).

“Animal History – History as if Animals Mattered”, the latest book edited by the Revd Professor Andrew Linzey and Dr Clair Linzey, Directors of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, is now available.

Traditional history overlooks non-human animals, hardly giving them a mention and almost entirely ignoring their contribution to our past. This book aims to reinstate them as proper subjects of historical enquiry. The book contains fourteen essays from the Journal of Animal Ethics, each written by an accomplished academic, and offers pioneering insights into what animal history is and how it should be done.

Animal History is an important book for anyone who wants to understand animal history and how it should be understood. It will appeal particularly to students of history and of animals, not to mention animal protectionists, who are interested in their own intellectual history and in understanding the controversies the animal movement engendered. It brings together a range of pioneering articles that all deserve careful study.

Animal History is divided into three sections:

  • Part One focusses on how we conceive of animal history, including the neglect of animals as historical figures in Western history and how animal “celebrities” often have biographies that are overlooked.
  • Part Two examines four key intellectual figures – two ancient and two modern – who have historically influenced our understanding of animals.
  • Part Three looks at historical controversies concerning meat eating and vivisection.

This work is the project of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics which aims to pioneer ethical perspectives on animals through academic research, teaching and publication. Their hope is that Animal History will be a contribution to the re-writing of history with other, non-human, animals included.

Michelle Thew, Chief Executive, Cruelty Free International commented:

   Brilliantly dismantling the ‘us and them’ distinction, this thought-provoking collection
   places animals firmly back at the centre of our historical thinking – subjects not objects, and   
   fellow travellers through time. These engaging essays leave you in no doubt that animals  
   matter. Their lives are key to our shared history. Their voices echo from the page as a call  
   for us to do better in the future.

Animal History is available to purchase here and on Amazon.

Animal History – History as If Animals Mattered

Edited by Andrew Linzey and Clair Linzey

RRP: £20.00
ISBN: 9798385248667
Pub Date: July 2025
Format: Paperback and hardback
Publisher: Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock)

Notes for Editors:

Co-editor Dr Clair Linzey is available for interview, comment and articles.

PDF copies of the book are available for review.

A cover image of the book, plus headshots of the editors, can be downloaded here.

For media enquiries please contact Sophie at Panpathic Communications – Sophie@panpathic.com / 07815 860 082

About the book and its editors

  • The Revd Professor Andrew Linzey is Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. He has held the world’s first post in theology and animals in the University of Oxford, and has been a member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford for 28 years. He is author of Why Animal Suffering Matters (Oxford University Press, 2009).
  • Dr Clair Linzey is the Frances Power Cobbe Professor of Animal Theology at the Graduate Theological Foundation as well as being Deputy Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. She is the author of Developing Animal Theology (Routledge, 2021).
  • The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics is an independent centre pioneering ethical perspectives on animals through academic research, teaching, and publication. The Centre comprises more than 100 academic Fellows.