Of Wolves and Men
Of Wolves and Men is a work of natural history and cultural inquiry by Barry Lopez, examining the wolf both as a living animal and as a figure in the human imagination. Lopez blends field biology with anthropology, folklore, literature, and his own observations to ask why the wolf has provoked such intense and contradictory feelings across cultures. He describes the social structure, hunting, and behavior of wolves, then turns to how Native peoples regarded them, how European traditions cast them as villains, and how settlers in North America waged campaigns of extermination. The book confronts the cruelty of that history while resisting easy sentimentality, treating the wolf as a creature that deserves to be understood on its own terms. First published in 1978, it won wide acclaim for its research and its prose, and it remains a foundational text in nature writing and conservation thought.
What you might want to know about Of Wolves and Men
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A wide-ranging study of the wolf and of the human imagination that has both revered and hunted it.
No; Lopez combines wolf biology with folklore, history, and anthropology to study how humans have imagined the animal.
Yes; it documents centuries of persecution and extermination campaigns alongside the animal's natural history.
Of Wolves and Men was written by Barry Lopez, published in 1978 by Scribner.
Of Wolves and Men is 336 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Of Wolves and Men takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Of Wolves and Men is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.