'Intellectually energetic and important' Paul Binding, Independent

In 1872, a woman known only as 'An Ernest Englishwoman' published an open letter entitled 'Are women animals?', in which she protested the fact that the status of women was worse than that of animals: regulations prohibiting cruelty against dogs, horses and cattle were significantly more punitive than laws against cruelty to women. The Ernest Englishwoman's critique could equally have applied to slaves, and if she had been able to look into the future, she might have wondered about chimeras or the ethics of stem cell research.

Meticulously researched, wide-ranging and illuminating, What It Means to be Human explores the legacy of two centuries and asks what the future holds for humans and animals.

'Provocative [and] exhilarating . . . Bourke's intelligence is sharp, her language lively, and the cultural images striking' Iain Finlayson, The Times

'A dauntless exploration . . . With mesmerising dexterity she deconstructs binaries of "human" and "animal" . . . A multitude of fresh ideas and an eye-opening and, at times, shocking intellectual adventure' Joanne Hayden, Sunday Business Post

'It is a delight to read such an ambitious book. Bourke deserves congratulations for bravely going where many historians would fear to tread' Sheila Rowbotham, Times Higher Education