Michael L. Ryder

It's true, I haven't read every page yet, but I've read a lot of it. This is an absolutely amazing book about the history of sheep throughout time and around the world. Before it was reissued, I used to get it from interlibrary loan all the time. As soon as Duckworth brought out the new edition, I ordered a copy, despite the price.

Michael Ryder combines clear writing and explanation with original research and notes from his travel into an astonishingly wide-ranging discussion of all aspects of sheep: morphology, archaeology, husbandry practices, breed development, you name it.

This is one of the most comprehensive books on any topic that I have ever seen.

It isn't perfect. If we asked a book this ambitious to be perfect, it would never get written. There's a mention of the crocheted shawls of Shetland (they're knitted). In one instance, Ryder was given some misidentified wool samples (all too easy to have happen); he corrected his assessment in a later publication when he discovered the problem. Other, far more complicated, items that I have researched in depth through other sources have all checked out.

Sheep and Man is the first place I go with questions about sheep history, development, and husbandry. Wow, what a book. I'm in awe. Even after many years' acquaintance.

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