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Weidenfeld & Nicolson will publish Dog's Best Friend: How Humans and Dogs Formed the Strongest Bond in History by Simon Garfield in a two-book deal.
Jenny Lord, publisher of Weidenfeld & Nicolson, acquired world rights to Dog's Best Friend plus a second title from Rosemary Scoular at United Agents. Dog's Best Friend will be published in hardback and ebook in August 2020.
Dog's Best Friend, which will be Garfield's 20th book, "is about our changing relationship with dogs over the centuries, and a celebration of their intelligence, curiosity, utility and loyalty," reads the synopsis. "It will begin with ancient rock art, but soon afterwards we'll be at the Palace with Corgis and at an ill-starred Poodle show in Las Vegas. And shortly after that we'll be weightless with the thirty-two dogs from the Soviet space programme, and in the lab at MIT sequencing the first dog genome. Dog's Best Friend is as entertaining as it is informative, as absurd as it is historically accurate – all told with the wit and charm of one of our best writers of alternative histories."
Lord said: "Simon is one of the most curious chroniclers of our times with an unrivalled talent for sniffing out the most delicious stories on any subject. In Dog's Best Friend he turns his nose to our canine companions, to tell the joyful, fascinating and unusual story of one of the most important relationships in human history. I cannot imagine a more pleasing combination of author and subject."
Garfield added: "I’m delighted to finally have a chance to write about my favourite animal and lifelong companions. I’ve lived with dogs since I was a boy, and have always found them intriguing, entertaining and hugely rewarding to be with. Hopefully the book reflects these attributes and captures the essential reasons why we’ve loved dogs through the centuries. And I’m thrilled that Jenny Lord and the great team at Weidenfeld share my enthusiasms."