"A compelling case for decoupling domestication from the yoke of human dominance and intentionality and instead understanding it as a pervasive and ages-old coevolutionary process. Spengler integrates and updates archaeological and biological data and theory more successfully and comprehensively than anyone I have seen. Scholars reluctant to relinquish human agency as the force driving domestication may be persuaded that multispecies, mutualistic relationships at the core of modern agriculture were not only 'natural' as opposed to 'cultural' but arguably inevitable."--Gayle J. Fritz, Professor Emerita of Archaeology, Washington University in St. Louis "This book marks a step change in our understanding of animal and plant domestication. Spengler's proposal of 'ecological release' as a universal driver of the domestication process is particularly exciting."--Glynis Jones, Fellow of the British Academy and Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, University of Sheffield "The topic of domestication, much like domestication itself, is an ever changing and evolving one.

In this comprehensive compendium of domestication science, Robert Spengler has made it possible for those in academia, agriculture, animal husbandry, and more to defer to one current and easy-to-access resource."--David Ian Howe, anthropologist and producer of the podcast Ethnocynology.