Description: "John Kinder proposes nothing less than a new history of World War II, told through the lens of zoos. On the most basic level, some wartime zoo animals were cherished; some were abandoned; and some were eaten by desperate people. Yet zoos also provide a vital, raw, and kaleidoscopic window onto human nature in wartime. They shed light on the evolution of the zoo as an institution, too, particularly after the war, and show how people's relationships with zoos has changed, and continues to change, with time. Zoos, after all, remain omnipresent, as do wars"--
Brief description: John M. Kinder is director of American Studies and professor of history at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of Paying with Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran, published by the University of Chicago Press, and coeditor of Service Denied: Marginalized Veterans in Modern American History.
Review Quotes:
"The stories of how humans and animals suffered, succumbed or survived makes World War Zoos a thoroughly engaging and original contribution to Second World War social history. The book will appeal to scholars and readers with a variety of interests both historical and zoological, but even those who are not necessarily animal-lovers will have much to learn from the author's provocative arguments and empathetic analysis"
-- "Canadian Military History"