The Complete Wolf

Once a widely-distributed mammal, today the wolf is a fugitive, reviled and ruthlessly hunted down.

But steps are being taken to secure its future, and it is now a protected species in Europe.

Spanning three continents in its quest for this most elusive and persecuted of carnivores, this is a natural history of the wolf.

For centuries the wolf has been surrounded by myth and magic, reflected in folk tales, medieval engravings and tapestries, and it can still inspire controversy.

Recent studies have examined its elimination from areas of Alaska for the benefit of sport hunters, and the impact on Spain's horsemen of the loss of their valuable livestock to wolves.

The book describes the attributes which have put the wolf among the world's top predators, and explains its complex social behaviour, and how and why it hunts in packs.

It also introduces some sub-species - the relic population of the red wolf and others now extinct, such as the Great Plains wolf and the Texas gray wolf.

Liz Bomford is a wildlife film-maker who has worked on more than 30 films for television and the cinema.