In a rollicking, anecdote-rich collection, psychologist and canine authority Coren explores the historical contributions made by man's best friend. 20 photos throughout.

The Pawprints of History shines a new light on a favorite subject -- the relationship between humans and their four-legged best friends. Stanley Coren, a renowned expert on dog-human interactions, has combed the annals of history and found captivating stories of how dogs have lent a helping paw and influenced the actions, decisions, and fates of well-known figures from every era and throughout the world. As history's great figures strut across the stage, Coren guides us from the wings, adoringly picking out the canine cameos and giving every dog of distinction its day. In this unparalleled chronicle, we see how Florence Nightingale's chance encounter with a wounded dog changed her life by leading her to the vocation of nursing. We learn why Dr. Freud's Chow Chow attended all of his therapy sessions and how the life of the Fifth Dalai Lama was saved by a dog who shared his bed. Dogs have even found their way to the battlefield -- great military leaders such as Robert the Bruce and Omar Bradley have shared their lives, exploits, and gunfire with dogs. From Wagner, who admitted that one of the arias in the opera Siegfried was "written" by one of his dogs, to the dogs that inspired and lived with Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Johnson, and Clinton, these loving canines do double duty as loyal pets and creative muses. From war to art, across the spectrum of human endeavor and achievement, there often stands, not only at his side but leading the way, man's beloved "best friend." For those who believe that behind every great person is a good dog, the uplifting stories in The Pawprints of History will be a lasting delight.

In a conversational Q&A format, a leading dog expert answers the most commonly asked questions about how dogs think and act. Do dogs dream? Can they recognize themselves in the mirror or understand what they’re seeing on television? Are they more intelligent than cats? People have a great curiosity—and many misunderstandings—about how dogs think, act, and perceive the world. They also wonder about the social and emotional lives of dogs. Stanley Coren brings decades of scientific research on dogs to bear in his unprecedented foray into the inner lives of our canine companions, dispelling many common myths in the process. Coren answers the questions dog owners have most frequently asked during his nearly fifty-year career as a dog researcher, combining the authority of an expert with the delivery of a guest at a cocktail party.

"It all began when Mumzy and Popzy placed me in that chicken coop of a carrier from Saks Fifth Avenue, and off we went...once again. Little did I know as to what was to befall my poor, furry person. "But alas, ...how was I to suspect as to what awaited me on the other side of the ocean?...To say, that it was to be an adventure, ...was most assuredly an understatement. "Humph ...Phffft ...What is a cat to do?...For at first, unbeknownst to me, I believed that Napoleon was a most delicious pastry...Boy ...Was I ever wrong ... Phffft " Ko-Ko the Cat muttered in a miffed fashion, as he stuck a single whisker in the air in an aristocratic manner, and crossed his forepaws in a regal way. And thus the reader steps into the mind of Ko-Ko the Cat --- an informative and opinionated feline. His views of the philosophies, manners and etiquettes of life are quite enchanting: Filled with laughter and joy. Curious as a cat can be, he teaches and amuses the reader as he experiences history and encounters historical figures while he travels through the world with his human parents.

Dogs have shared our homes for as long as we can remember, and, in return, have guarded us, helped us hunt, and herded our livestock. They have generally been our friends as well; that is what most of them are today. Canine friends give us uncritical affection, free of the ambivalence that plagues human relationships. Dogs figure prominently in literature, starting with Homer's Argus, the hound who remembered Odyssues after twenty years. Victorian novels are full of vivid canine characters. "Ms. Rogers is impressively thorough...best of all, the author knows and respects dogs." Steve Goode, Washington Times

The power and history of "man's best friend."