With swift yet elegant movements, a noble and independent character, the wolf is one of nature's most fascinating wild animals, a relentless predator, endowed with great intelligence and a striking ability to adapt. Its social life, talent for hunting and extraordinary instinct to work as a pack are striking. An inhabitant of wild places who shuns intrusion, the wolf's true nature has long remained a mystery. Recent field research has helped to reveal his true character and dispel the countless myths and legends about him.

G￯﾿ﾽrard and Anne Dominique M￯﾿ﾽnatory have done exhaustive studies of wolves in their natural habitat and have made significant contributions to the research done on these extraordinary animals. Rich in dramatic images that document every moment in a wolf's life — by turns heartwarming and frightening — this book celebrates the life of this legendary creature.

Anne Dominique M￯﾿ﾽnatory was born in Al￯﾿ﾽs (Gard) in 1958. Her father was the legendary G￯﾿ﾽrard M￯﾿ﾽnatory, environmentalist, naturalist and founder of G￯﾿ﾽvaudan Park, an animal reserve in the Massif Central region of France, created in 1985 for the study and protection of wolves. G￯﾿ﾽrard M￯﾿ﾽnatory dedicated 40 years of his life to studying canis lupus, following the species at every latitude, in semi-freedom, within vast fenced-in areas, until he completed his series of experiments with the so called "imprinting" learning process on the wolf cub. Even though personal enthusiasms are not genetically inherited, Anne Dominique's interest in wolves is without doubt the result of her father's influence, with whom she worked side by side for many years. Upon G￯﾿ﾽrard's death in 1998, Anne Dominique took over the park, thus carrying on her father's work and fighting for the survival of one of the most highly endangered species in Europe. She has participated in numerous conferences on environmental issues and has studied other canine species, such as the African hunting dog. She has collaborated with the Museum of Natural History in Paris and with famous documentary directors like Bruno Vienne, with whom she made the feature film Brother Wolf, distributed by National Geographic throughout the world. She has also worked on many specialized magazines.

Born in 1943, Gianni Guadalupi has worked in the publishing industry as a writer, translator, and editor of anthologies for 30 years, dealing in particular with literature on real and imaginary voyages. He edits several travel series, including the Impossible Guides. He has published numerous successful works on the culture of travel. He had written The Discovery of the Nile, China Revealed (2003) and The Holy Bible (2003) and edited Great Treasures and contributed to Marco Polo (2002). He has also collaborated on the Art of Being a Lion and The Art of Being an Elephant.