Kathryn Shevelow

Here's my new book, For the Love of Animals. You can find out more about it on my website: www.kathrynshevelow.com
I am very excited about this book--and I'll say a little about it below. But first, for anyone who's interested, here's a bit of a 'writerly' biography: I grew up in southwestern Ohio. Both of my parents were schoolteachers, and I'm the oldest of four sisters. Now I teach in the Literature Department of the University of California, San Diego to become a faculty member in the Literature Department. My first book, Women and Print Culture, was about the invention of magazines for women in 18th-century England.
A few years ago, I started to feel that I'd like to write for a larger audience than just other academics. So I wrote Charlotte: Being a True Account of an Actress's Flamboyant Adventures in Eighteenth-Century London's Wild and Wicked Theatrical World, a biography of a colorful, scandalous, feisty, and truly courageous 18th-century actress and cross-dresser, named Charlotte Charke. I was thrilled when Charlotte won the Theatre Library Association's George Freedley Memorial Award for the year's best book on live theater.
With my new book entitled For the Love of Animals: The Rise of the Animal Protection Movement, I wanted to connect my interest in English history with my life-long love of animals and my concern for animal welfare. I wanted to tell the story of how society's changing attitudes towards animals led to the passage of the world's first national animal welfare law and the founding of the SPCA, the world's first animal protection organization. This book does talk about the widespread abuse of animals that so many people took for granted in earlier days, but it's also an encouraging account of how and why people's attitudes towards "dumb beasts" began to change.
I was especially fascinated by the amazing, dedicated (and sometimes very eccentric) people whose compassion and respect for animals were far ahead of their time--especially the man for whom the first law was named, Richard Martin, aka "Humanity Dick," who was quite a character. He and other animal defenders (such as the famous abolitionist William Wilberforce) were often branded as irritating troublemakers, dangerous radicals, and/or sentimental fools, but their efforts on animals' behalf ultimately succeeded in changing history. Needless to say, this was an inspiring story to tell! All of my books have concerned ideas and issues that are important to me (why write them otherwise???), and this one most of all. Bookstore links to Charlotte and For the Love of Animals are below.
Advance Praise for For the Love of Animals:
"For the Love of Animals is an absorbing, rich book - I learned much and it made me think more deeply about the relationship between humans and animals. A fresh new voice has been added to the growing literature about the complexity of the rights of animals.”—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep
“This shocking book tells the story of the brave, eccentric individuals who worked to stop heartless animal abuses in 17th and 18th century England. For the Love of Animals is essential reading for people interested in both the history of legislation to protect animals, and animal ethics issues.”—Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation
“Richard Martin, named ‘Humanity Dick’ by King George IV, remains a hero to all who believe that kindness is indeed a virtue. He not only founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (now the RSPCA) together with William Wilberforce, but fought hard for legislation to help the poor and illiterate. It is a joy to read Kathryn Shevelow’s careful examination of this extraordinary man and the other courageous men and women who worked together to radically change society with their ideas about social justice. You are left pondering the implications of their words and deeds on those around them, indeed on us all, even today.”—Ingrid Newkirk, President, PETA
"This is a fascinating, often disturbing and frequently funny book, a must read for anyone concerned with the treatment of animals and a call to action for the next generation of animal rights activists."--Publishers Weekly
"Culminating in the founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, this mesmerizing history is full of colorful characters and anecdotes about eighteenth-century history."--Booklist
History Book Club alternate selection, September 2008.