Inside Cover Blurb
- Mother deer that grieve? Horses that feel shame? Squirrels that adopt their grandchildren?
- We humans tend to assume that we are the only living things able to experience feelings intensely and consciously. But have you ever wondered what’s going on in an animal’s head?
- From the leafy forest floor to the inside of a bee hive, The Inner Life of Animals takes us microscopic levels of observation to the big philosophical, ethical and scientific questions. We hear the stories of a grateful humpback whale, of a hedgehog who has nightmares, and of a magpie who commits adultery; we meet bees that plan for the future, pigs who learn their own names and crows that go tobogganing for fun. And at last we find out why wasps exist.
- As more and more researchers are discovering, animals experience a rich emotional life that is ready to be explored. The Inner Life of Animals will show you these living things in a new light and will open up the animal kingdom like never before.
- Peter Wohlleben spent over twenty years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to put his ideas of ecology into practice. He now runs an environmentally friendly woodland in Germany, where he is working towards the return of primeval forests, as well as caring for both wild and domestic animals. Wohlleben has been celebrated for his distinctive approach to writing about nature; he brings to life groundbreaking scientific research through his observations of nature and the animals he lives amongst. He is also the author of international bestsellers including The Hidden Life of Trees and The Inner Life of Animals.
Amazon Reviews
- Always fascinating… Wry, avuncular, careful and kind, Wohlleben guides us from one creature to the next.
→ Richard Kerridge ― Guardian
- Wohlleben presents short chapter in bite-sized portions, so the reader has a constant sense of learning something new almost with every page ... The formula is provably winning. I still felt I was on a robust learning curve as subjects as diverse as motherly love, gratitude, deception, desire, shame and knowledge of good and evil were explored one by one ... fascinating.
→ Katharine Norbury ― Observer
- Wohlleben is connecting with something big here… He truffles up some wonderful animal facts, too… Wohlleben’s empathy with animals can be touching and illuminating
→ James McConnachie ― Sunday Times
- The Inner Life of Animals will rock your world. Surprising, humbling, and filled with delight, this book shows us that animals think, feel, and know in much the same way as we do -- and that their lives are, to them, as precious as ours are to us.
→ Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul Of An Octopus
- [Wohlleben] neatly combines anecdotes and scientific evidence in his search for the answers to some basic questions, such as do animals feel things the way we do?... Wohlleben has no doubt that all animals have a rich inner life. By the end of this delightful, surprising book, most readers will be persuaded that he is right.
→ Nick Rennison, Daily Mail
- The tone is friendly and informal and the prose largely free of scientific jargon… Entertaining and thought-provoking
→ Mark Cocker ― Spectator
- Wouldn’t it be fascinating to know what animals think? Here, Peter Wohlleben explores a range of bestial emotions we didn’t know existed… unveiling remarkable insights into their hidden lives in the process
→ Country Living
- A fascinating read
→ Sam Swannack, on Countryfile
- Peter Wohlleben’s convincing, highly readable stories about free-living and domestic animals show there’s much overlap between how humans and other animals experience bonding, loss, and the great, shared themes of life.
→ Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think And Feel
Contents
- Introduction – 1
- Selfless Mother Love – 5
- Instinct - A Second-Rate Emotion? – 13
- Loving People – 19
- Anybody Home? – 29
- Pig Smarts – 39
- Gratitude – 45
- Lies and Deception –51
- Stop, Thief! – 57
- Take Courage! – 65
- Black and White – 71
- Cold Hedgehogs, Warm Honey Bees – 77
- Crowd Intelligence – 87
- Hidden Agendas – 93
- Simple Sums – 97
- Just for Fun – 101
- Empathy – 138
- Altruism – 139
- Upbringing – 143
- Getting Rid of the Kids – 147
- Once Wild, Forever Wild – 151
- Snipe Mess – 161
- Something Special in the Air – 165
- Comfort – 171
- Weathering the Storm – 177
- Pain – 183
- Fear – 187
- High Society – 205
- Good and Evil – 207
- Hey, Mr Sandman – 215
- Animal Oracles – 221
- Animals Age, Too – 229
- Alien Worlds – 235
- Artificial Environments – 243
- In the Service of Humanity – 249
- Communication – 253
- Where Is the Soul? – 259
- Epilogue – 263
- Acknowledgements – 269
- Notes – 271
Book Comment
Bodley Head; 1st edition (19 Oct. 2017). Hardback.
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025
- Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)