A survey of the cat and its 7,000-year relationship with mankind. Using illustrations drawn mainly from the British and Natural History Museums, this book looks at the different roles cats have played in human life and how modern breeds have evolved from the original wild cat.

Sometimes a friendly fireside companion, more often elusive and independent, the cat possesses an enigmatic appeal and unfathomable mystery, which have inspired writers poets, artists and craftsmen alike from the illuminations of the Lindisfarne Gospels to Rudyard Kipling.

Quench your kitty curiosity and discover the answers to all these vital questions and more in this must-have for any cat owner! Who composed the Cat’s Fugue inspired by the sound of his cat walking across the keys of the piano? What is ailurophilia? In which country do people believe that the souls of the departed live in the bodies of cats before moving on to the next life? When were cats worshipped as gods? Why did Edward Lear, composer of the Owl and the Pussycat, have two houses, one in Italy and the other in England, that were exactly the same? How did a cat single-handedly wipe out an entire animal species?