In April 1995 a public conference entitled In the Company of Animals was held in New York under the auspices of the international quarterly journal of social science, Social Research. This meeting was set up to examine man's relationship with animals, over time and in different cultures. The printed proceedings of this conference have now been produced as a single whole issue of Volume 62 of Social Research. There are 14 full papers, an Editor's Introduction, 4 Section Introductions, a Keynote Address by Stephen Jay Gould and 8 shorter contributions to a panel discussion. The ‘book’ has been edited by Arien Mack. The whole is, in effect, a most interesting, scholarly and wide-ranging coverage of the biological, historical, social and ethical aspects of man's relationship with animals. Animal welfarists, scientists, sociologists and historians will all benefit from browsing through and hopefully reading much of the material in this modestly priced but extremely valuable volume.