Preface to the 1975 Edition
This book is about thetyranny of human over nonhuman
animals.Thistyrannyhascausedandtodayisstillcausingan
amountofpainandsufferingthatcanonlybecomparedwith
thatwhich resultedfrom thecenturiesof tyrannybywhite
humansoverblackhumans.Thestruggleagainstthistyranny
isastruggleasimportantasanyofthemoralandsocialissues
that have been fought over in recent years.
Mostreaderswilltakewhattheyhavejustreadtobeawild
exaggeration.FiveyearsagoImyselfwouldhavelaughedat
thestatementsIhavenowwrittenin completeseriousness.
FiveyearsagoIdidnotknowwhatIknowtoday.Ifyouread
thisbookcarefully,payingspecialattentiontothesecondand
thirdchapters,youwillthenknowasmuchofwhatIknow
abouttheoppressionofanimalsasitispossibletogetintoa
bookofreasonablelength.Thenyouwillbeabletojudgeif
my opening paragraph is a wild exaggeration or a sober
estimateofasituationlargelyunknowntothegeneralpublic.
SoIdonotaskyoutobelievemyopeningparagraphnow.All
Iaskisthatyoureserveyourjudgmentuntilyouhaveread
the book.
SoonafterIbeganworkonthis bookmywife andIwere
invitedtotea—wewerelivinginEnglandatthetime—bya
lady who had heard that I was planning to
write about animals. She herself was very interested in
animals, she said, and she had a friend who had already
writtenabookaboutanimalsandwouldbesokeentomeet
us.