http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/159017970

The pawprints of history : dogs and the course of human events

[In this book, the author] has amassed a ... collection of stories. [In the book], the stories themselves are the focus and readers have the undiluted pleasure of sharing in [his] unique trove. As history's great figures strut across the stage, [he] guides us from the wings, lovingly picking out the canine cameos and giving every dog of distinction its day. He vividly depicts the dogs who have played a significant role in the lives of many historical figures, and shows how their relationships with their people have directly influenced the course of world events. 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. We see the obsessive love of King Charles II, who gave his spaniels hereditary titles of nobility so that they might go with him into the House of Lords. From canines who accompanied the rulers of ancient Egypt to those belonging to the presidents of the United States, dogs have been companions as well as political symbols and instruments of public relations - including Calvin Coolidge's collie Prudence Prim, who had a cheerful collection of fancy hats, and Bill Clinton's chocolate Lab, Buddy, who made timely appearances to help his master through photo ops ... In this definitive collection of canine greatness, bursting with tales of famous figures and their four-legged catalysts of every breed and possible disposition, from lapdogs to four-legged warriors, from sleuthing hounds to sedentary pugs, [the author] convincingly documents that wherever are found the footprints of history, there too one will find the pawprints.

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