Bred for Perfection

In this book, Margaret Derry-pedigree cattle breeder, livestock artist, and historian-explores the improvement of Shorthorn cattle, Collie dogs, and Arabian horses in Britain and North America since the eighteenth century. Though the three breeds are no more alike than chalk and cheese, the same threads run through their histories. Derry ranges widely and with assurance across this many-faceted subject, shedding light on matters hitherto opaque or obscure. Her book is an engaging exploration of the not-always-creative tensions between science, aesthetics, and the profit motive in the history of animal breeding over the last two centuries. -- John R. Walton, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Bred for Perfection provides the historical context in which this system arose, adding to our understanding of how domestication works and how our welfare-since the dawn of time-has been intertwined with the lives of animals.How did animal breeding emerge as a movement? Who took part and for what reasons? How do the pedigree and market systems work? What light might the movement shed on the assumptions behind human eugenics? In Bred for Perfection, Margaret Derry provides the most comprehensive and accessible book yet published on the human quest to improve and develop livestock. Derry, herself a breeder and trained historian of science, explores the "triangle" of genetics, eugenics, and practical breeding, focusing on Shorthorn cattle, show dogs and working dogs, and one type of purebred horse, the Arabian. By examining specific breeders and the animals they produced, she illuminates the role of technology, genetics, culture, and economics in the system of purebred breeding. Bred for Perfection also provides the historical context in which this system arose, adding to our understanding of how domestication works and how our welfare-since the dawn of time-has been intertwined with the lives of animals.