Derr (A Dog's History of America, 2004, etc.) explores various scenarios on the road to the long, fruitful relationship between dogs and humans.

"Among the broader population of Pleistocene wolves and human were individuals who by virtue of extreme sociability and curiosity, or both, became best friends and compatriots after encountering each other on the trail," writes the author in this rangy, critically stimulating and warm book. Read full book review >

A sweeping, lapidary history of our relationship with dogs from Derr (The Frontiersman, 1993, etc.). A fan of the dog for many years, Derr set out to write a cultural history of the dog-human nexus, one that touched on the emotional, intellectual, and physical aspects, the good, bad, and ugly ways we go about communing with the beasts. Read full book review >

A well-researched if not particularly incisive life of the legendary Tennessee backwoodsman, politician, and Alamo martyr that examines his achievements and changing public image through the years. Derr (Some Kind of Paradise, 1989—not reviewed), a distant cousin of Crockett's, treats his subject sympathetically while separating the man from the tall tales. Read full book review >