An astonishing writer named Sy Montgomery thoughtfull wrote Walking With The Great Apes. Montgomery's captivating novel portrays three women who are fasinated about how primates live and care for one another. In a dire world of poaching and murder, these three scientists attempt to protect and preserve the world and nature of humanity's closest cousins. All together Walking With The Great Apes is a thought-provoking book and a must read for anyone interested in the Great Apes.

A very well written book and a great introduction to those who want to know more about the lives and studies of these 3 extremely remarkable woman Jane Goodall, Birutas Galdikas and last but not least for me THE woman of the 20th century Dian Fossey.

Sy Montgoemry writes extremely well, and as a consequence, her book is compulsively readable. Not only that, but the subject matter is pure fascination, as she sheds light on each of these great apes, their extraordinary environments, and the daring women scientists who study them - their unique approach to science, their trials and tribulations. A great book.

The letters in this collection date from Ms. Goodall's youth through 1966, when her stature as a scientist was well established based on her pioneering research in Africa.

Books of letters are normally associated with great female authors of novels, such as Virginia Woolf. In those wonderful volumes, beautiful style and playful use of words adds joy to one's appreciation of the literary works themselves.

So, I did not know what to expect from a book of Jane Goodall's letters. What I found was a most pleasant surprise. The letters provide a deep perspective into the personality of Ms. Goodall and how that contributed to the development of the research methods she used. I found the letters fascinating and very rewarding, despite the fact that they are the opposite of high literary style.

If you are like me, you may primarily know Jane Goodall from her National Geographic television specials. Those were very accessible and enjoyable. But I did not know the background concerning how her pioneering research with chimpanzees was initiated and developed. This book wonderfully filled in that background. Also, I did not know how an attractive young Englishwoman came to become a field scientist in Africa in the first place. Also, the shows made it all seem rather natural and easy.

First, you will come away impressed with what a devoted correspondent she was. Over 16,000 letters were found by the editor to draw from. Now, how many letters have you written in your life? Also, these are mostly long, newsy letters to family, friends, and professional colleagues. If she had been a book reviewer, no one would have believed her production. Remember that she had no computer to help her draft the letters. In fact, she had the balkiest manual typewriters imaginable.

What was even more remarkable to me was that so many of her early letters had been saved. How many letters have you saved from people under the age of 15? That these letters are available is quite a testimony to her relationships with these people, and the impact of her personality.

Then, I did not know that she was a secretarial school graduate when she went to Africa. A few jobs quickly convinced her that she was not cut out for indoor work. She was eventually accepted into a Ph.D. program without ever having attended college! In fact, she had done most of her breakthrough field work before her Ph.D. was even granted. So much for formal education as a way to create new scholarly methods.

Ms. Goodall has a wonderful love of humans and animals that makes no significant distinction between them. I was overwhelmed to read her descriptions of her pets and the chimpanzees and baboons she studied. It is remarkable to read page after page as she gossips with people about the animals by name in more detail and with more sympathy than in much of what she writes about people who were not close to her. This perspective is a fairly unique one, and led to her finding ways to relate to the animals throughout her early years.

There is great humor throughout the letters. Her many descriptions of men becoming interested in her and how she handled them are echoed in her descriptions of the female chimpanzees eluded the hovering males. Humor and laughter came easily to her. You will laugh too at the descriptions of the chimpanzees tickling each other.

You will come away with a great respect for what she accomplished. The difficulties she overcame were incredible, and the work that she put into her research is beyond imagining. She mostly wrote these letters around midnight, after working from 6:30 in the morning . . . often in the driving rain. This was a 7 day a week effort for her. Frustrations were everwhere. Great sequences would occur, but where no one could photograph them. Or the exposures were set wrong on the camera, and the whole roll of film produced nothing. And the camera problems were just the least of it . . . although they were the most maddening to Ms. Goodall. Malaria, shingles, and mysterious diseases affected her and the others she worked with. But her commitment remained strong.

Dale Peterson has done a fine job of selecting the letters and summarizing them at the beginning of each section. My only complaint about the editing was that more footnotes would have been helpful. I was regularly lost in trying to understand who some of the people were whom Ms. Goodall refers to.

I suggest that you give this book to a young person who loves animals. Perhaps something will "click" that will allow that person to see that she or he can live a life devoted to inquiry and closeness with animals.

Follow your instincts!

For those of us who may think we know Jane Goodall as theheroine of National Geographic specials, the champion of primateintelligence and animal rights, one of the great scientists of thetwentieth century, Africa in My Blood comes as a revelation. Here is the young girl and woman discovering life for the first time, having a crush on the local curate, writing to her best friend Sally and her "Darling Family," traveling by slow boat to Africa, and then launching the career that we have never seen through such fresh eyes. Most astonishing of all, it turns out that Jane Goodall is a splendid writer of letters, which are full of comic anecdotes and finely-observed details, capturing in vivid prose the immediate events of her life and much wonderful material not included in her other books. Dale Peterson has done a superb job of editing, organizing, and introducing this monumental collection, showing Goodall as both private and professional woman, in both intimate portrait and dazzling display of her gifts as a writer. One can only hope that a second volume is on its way soon. END

I referenced this book as part of my BSc (Hons) Animal Science degree dissertation. My enthusiasm for chimpanzee behaviour had me Searching for this book though every known channel. I would not have been able to complete my dissertation thesis without its in-depth explanation of group matrices, coalition strategies and family associations. This book is indeed the complete works of the greatest ethologist and was and remains an inspiration to me.

My copy of this magnificent book is well-worn and I would love to be able to replace it with a new addition and retire my signed copy. "The Chimpanzees of Gombe" - is the culmination of Ms. Goodall's work. This book contains all of the hard data from her monumental work at Gombe. Family histories, geneologies, ranging patterns, maps, biographies, diet, alliances, everything is here in detail. Nowhere else can this information be found in one volume. This tome is truly a must for the serious student of anthropology, primatology, or biology. It is extremly well written, clearly laid out, and organized, with some illustrations, diagrams, and photos to complement the text. Truly a remarkable and impressive life's work, one can really see the love and devotion this wonderful woman has for the beautiful chimpanzees of Gombe. You will not be disappointed with this book.

Bransilver & Richardson have created a masterpiece! They are to be commended for brilliantly portraying one of the most challenging natural ecosystems to study: Swamps. Their talent and dedication shines on every page! The wildlife shots are superb -- much more than just documentary renderings. All the flora and fauna here, large and small, are revealed in soulful essence. If this book alone isn't reason(s) to save the dazzling natural wealth of the Everglades and other threatened wetlands then Man is morally bankrupt. Bravo Bransilver and Richardson. You help us see with new eyes!!

This visually stunning book is a delight to the eyes and a splendour to the mind. The authors' wide experience and long hours in the swamps shows in the exquisite color photographs; their love of the place - a tropical jungle in our own United States - shines through. They manage to convey both through the pictures and through the educational and prosaic text the uniqueness, diversity and splendour of this wondrous ecosystem. This book is a must-read for children as well as for adults, for all people who want to know more - and we all should - about the importance of the Florida swamps. This book allows us to appreciate our own wilderness, both because of the beauty reflected in the photos and because of the vast amount of information explained in a down-to-earth manner. And while it is not a prescription book for saving the threatened swamps, it is a springboard from which the reader can try to do something to help save them. Their message: it is only when you know something that you can love it and only if you love it will you save it. You can almost feel the water slowly trickling by as you pass your eyes over the images, and hear the owls calling to each other. Truly splendid.

_____I bought this book for my girlfriend, who is a huge fan of Jane Goodall. But I find myself picking it up and reading through it a lot. This book is an excellent read, for the casual animal lover as well as those with a deep interest in primatology.

_____The book covers much of Jane Goodall's life, including biographical info, historical research milestones, and even those special moments that make Goodall the concerned activist she is. It has well-written text and beautiful, high-quality photos. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Jane Goodall, especially those who do not know much about her and would like a starter reference book.

At 14, I admire and sulute Ms. Goodall! Her work and devotion to some the most fascinating of animals is absolutely stunning! I think that over her 40 wonderful at Gombe, she has developed a beautiful relationship with these animals, and you can definetely see and feel their love with this book! Everyone who has ever read her dazzling books or has any knowledge or admiration for Jane's hard and unmistakably hard work will enjoy this timeline of a stunning woman's life in Africa! Enjoy!

How many of you out there in readerland have ever found yourself wondering, "Gee whiz, I wonder how anthropologist Jane Goodall rose to the top?" Well search no more, my curious friend! Author Virginia Meachum has provided an entertaining and informative story of the life of this wonderful woman that readers of all ages can enjoy. Walk, nay, RUN to a bookstore and purchase this book!

This book is great. Young readers won't be able to put it down. Virginia Meachum is great-- she walks on water, sent the Pope to Cuba, and wooed Brad Pitt away from Gweneth Paltrow. And I'm not just saying that because she's my grandma.

This is of course based on the premise that we know animals are not sentient, don't have emotions, and that there is no such thing as animal culture. Stick-a-pin. This is no different than our most recent scientific truth. We knew for a fact that once we read the Human Genome and identified its 100,000 to 140,000 genes we would be able to confirm our unique complexity. Wait a minute. We did that already, right? And how many genes do we have? Try between 30,000 to 35,000. Now ponder this: the functions for over a half of our discovered genes remains unknown. As I said, imagine what we'll "know" tomorrow. I believe that shortly we will confirm that animals have a vibrant and adaptable culture, a rich emotional life, and consciously communicate among themselves and are self-aware. I give it 25 years. Certainly within a generation there will be a new paradigm that most naturalists will be operating with, and science such as Bekoff's won't be seen as "anecdotal", "folk-tales", "pop-culture", or radical anthropomorphism.

Cognitive ethology (the study of animal intelligence) is a young science and like so many newer studies it has its fair share of critics. Interestingly much of the criticism comes from within other current fields of study (sociobiology and evolutionary psychology for example). Bekoff tackles these issues head on and if you have read a little in this field you'll know that this means engaging some of our brightest thinkers - Daniel C Dennett, E.O Wilson, Marc Hauser, Noam Chomsky. A lot of the debate about animal intelligence centers on language and communication. Primatologists such as Jane Goodall and Franz de Waal, like Bekoff, tend to argue that human capacity for language is an inappropriate criteria for determining animal intelligence.

This is an overly simplified summary of Bekoff's field of study and his explanations are much clearer. The book however is much more than a scientific primer on cognitive ethology. No longer does naming animals, loving them, and anthropomorphizing detract from the scientific study of their behavior. Bekoff shows that by MINDING ANIMALS scientists are able to get fascinating insights into behavior. Stories here about dreaming rats, thinking bees, and happy elephants, far from being anecdotal, are now shedding new light onto behavior such as grooming, dominance, mating, and feeding.

It was less than twenty years ago that it was discovered that elephants communicated by ultrasound and only recently did we find out that African Grey parrots understand concepts such as size, color, shape, and can compare and contrast items. Enjoy this fascinating read and then just imagine...

Marc Bekoff's Minding Animals offers us a unique look into the wonderful and diverse minds of animals. All too often we glaze over true animal emotions and feelings because society has wanted us to believe animals are a lesser developed species than humans. That animals are not able to demonstrate traits thought only to be "human." However, Bekoff's book and his previous publications clearly demonstrate how terribly wrong and simple this is. Animals posses deep and unique minds capable of endless emotions, thoughts and actions. Simply because humans are not capable of understanding the animal mind in terms that can be communicated does not mean the animal mind does not exist. A serious flaw (one of many) in human nature is to discount unknown possibilities. It is unimaginable to us today that the great astronomer Galileo was persecuted for saying the Earth rotated around the Sun or that Christopher Columbus said the world was round. Even the youngest children know these facts today. Nobody knew how closely related we were to the chimpanzee until a young British woman named Jane Goodall went to Africa only 40 years ago and discovered the distinct behaviors of chimpanzees, such as tool use, communication and social bonding to mention just a few.

Readers of Minding Animals will come across stories they have also experienced with animals and learn new stories that will help them appreciate all animals even more. Bekoff's book allows us to enjoy and appreciate animals that are not lesser beings, but animals that live their own unique lives and add something special to our own lives and the plant.

Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Marc Bekoff have compiled ideas, stories, experience and much more about living a humane and ethical life into a book accessible to all. As the animal protection community has done for 50 years, this book shows that humans must respect the environment and all life if we, as a species, expect to survive. It is a very simple premise yet humanity has yet to catch on. The Ten Trusts not only gives us a path to follow, but it shows how others have acted before in trying to alter destructive patterns. Caring for others (animals, humans and nature) is not something radical, it is - humane! It is something everyone must do.

Goodall and Bekoff share their experiences from living a life of compassion and a boundless ethic. Few people are as well known and respected as Jane Goodall, but she has never rested on her fame. Instead, she stepped away from her field research and beloved friends in Gombe National Park, not to build monetary wealth, but to share her wealth of knowledge with young and old alike through lectures and programs such as Roots and Shoots. While Bekoff has spent years educating a more humane youth at the University of Colorado, all while helping us to better understand and appreciate animal behavior.

Over the last two years the Bush administration has systematically deconstructed even basic protections for the environment in order to please corporate greed. The Ten Trusts talks about many issues, one of which will certainly reappear following recent elections, is the drilling for oil in Alaska's ANWR. Even though the American public is opposed to destroying the last pristine environment, the Administration hopes to lull us into a belief that it is needed.

This does not have to be. Goodall, who revolutionized how humans think about other species through her work with chimpanzees and Bekoff, who is a leader in showing us that the minds of animals are as unique and complex as ours, have concisely gathered a wonderful set of ethics into an easily readable book. A book that everyone should read because it shows how we really can and MUST be compassionate.

This is a wonderful book, filled with information and perspectives from which everyone will benefit. I recommend this book to "the converted" as well as to those who are unsure what all the vegetarians and animal-rights people are going on about. It's not a preachy book and it's not purely for animal lovers or "tree-huggers" -- it's a book for any human who cares (even slightly) about how his or her life affects other lives--the life of the planet and the lives of the animals (including humans) who live on it. I cannot imagine anyone who could read this book and not be affected by it. It's also very encouraging to read about the success of Ms. Goodall's Roots & Shoots program -- hopefully, the generations touched by her knowledge will do a better job than we have.

The book surveys our current scientific understanding of chimpanzee behavior. Both common chimpanzees and bonobos are covered. I doubt any reasonable person who read this book would challenge the notion that the term "culture" is applicable to chimpanzees. I particularly liked the sections on social relations and cognition. Anyone wanting to understand human behavior would do well to read this book.

In "The Chimpanzee Family Book," Jane Goodall's words combine with Michael Neugebauer's photographs to create a memorable portrait of a chimpanzee family. The star of this book is five month old Galahad, who lives with his mother Gremlin and their extended family in Tanzania's Gombe National Park.

Although marketed as a children's book, this treasure is truly one for all ages. In fact, I bought a copy for my four year old nephew some time ago, but loved the book so much I kept it for myself! (Don't worry; I ordered a second copy for my nephew.)

This book is truly a portrait of an entire community. As Jane Goodall follows little Galahad and his mother through a typical day, we get to meet Gremlin's brothers, as well as the other chimpanzees who make up the larger group. Michael Neugebauer's keen eye captures many memorable images--some funny, some touching. Goodall's straightforward prose is the perfect complement to the wealth of beautiful, full-color images. Her insights into chimpanzee life make the book as educational as it is enjoyable.

"The Chimpanzee Family Book" reminds us that the strength of family and the joy of childhood are not exclusive to the human race. And the book is also a poignant reminder of the vital need to protect the chimpanzees from threats to their continued survival.

So whether you buy this book for your favorite child or your favorite adult, "The Chimpanzee Family Book" is sure to become a treasured favorite.