Early civilisations regarded cows, bulls, and oxen animals as their wealth, and respected them in religious and secular life. In modern civilisations, we have lost this intimate relationship. This book aims to make people think about these animals that are producing their beef, milk and leather, and to see them as mythical and awe-inspiring.

The book begins with the domestication of the auroch around 9,000 BC, and moves through time and around the globe, charting the changing social relationship of man and cattle through myth, folklore, religion, art, literature and film. Containing more than 100 illustrations, with over 30 in colour, "Cow" is a lively and also thought-provoking re-introduction to these noble and majestic creatures.