From the tiniest of kittens to the lordliest of lions, the most memorable feline stories ever written.

Great Cat was the biggest cat in the world. Toby was delighted with her, but his neighbors were afraid for their children. Full-color illustrations.

The tragedies of World War II are well known. But at least one has been forgotten: in September 1939, four hundred thousand cats and dogs were massacred in Britain. The government, vets, and animal charities all advised against this killing. So why would thousands of British citizens line up to voluntarily euthanize household pets? In The Great Cat and Dog Massacre, Hilda Kean unearths the history, piecing together the compelling story of the life—and death—of Britain’s wartime animal companions. She explains that fear of imminent Nazi bombing and the desire to do something to prepare for war led Britons to sew blackout curtains, dig up flower beds for vegetable patches, send their children away to the countryside—and kill the family pet, in theory sparing them the suffering of a bombing raid. Kean’s narrative is gripping, unfolding through stories of shared experiences of bombing, food restrictions, sheltering, and mutual support. Soon pets became key to the war effort, providing emotional assistance and helping people to survive—a contribution for which the animals gained government recognition. Drawing extensively on new research from animal charities, state archives, diaries, and family stories, Kean does more than tell a virtually forgotten story. She complicates our understanding of World War II as a “good war” fought by a nation of “good” people. Accessibly written and generously illustrated, Kean’s account of this forgotten aspect of British history moves animals to center stage—forcing us to rethink our assumptions about ourselves and the animals with whom we share our homes.

Mysterious, amusing, and always surprising, the domestic cat has padded its way into the hearts of animal lovers and, as this collection reveals, some of the world's greatest writers. Award-winning nature writer Roger Caras provides us with this big, new collection of tales all on the virtues of cats. Representing a wide range of styles, the authors in this anthology provide an irresistible array of stories. Cleveland Amory compares the human and feline aging processes in "A Cat for All Seasons". Ernest Hemingway paints an unforgettable scene about the allure of a wet stray in "Cat in the Rain". And P. G. Wodehouse doles out a generous portion of English wit in the delightful romp, "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch". This volume celebrates the once-wild creature that has established a special place in the literature, lore, legends, and living rooms of their human admirers.

A collection of stories inspired by cats and their relationships with humans.