Book Review - Animal Rights: What Everyone Needs to Know

"Paul Waldau's book is a clear, accessible and generally reliable introduction to issues in animal rights. The book's content is structured around a series of seventy or so questions, with chapters on the philosophical, legal, political, social, pedagogical and scientific dimensions of the animal rights debate. This produces an interdisciplinary patchwork, which could be either read straight through or treated as a reference resource. Whilst the book synthesizes information from a wide range of sources, and contains some important insights, the structure tends to make sustained argument difficult. It also involves the author in some discussion of topics beyond his immediate areas of expertise. For instance, I have reservations concerning his discussion of the philosophy of animal rights. Overall, however, there is much to recommend it as a useful addition to the literature, especially with respect to the legal aspects of animal rights advocacy."