Danielle Sands is Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway University of London.

• AcknowledgementsPreface Introduction: Ten Statements about Empathy and Animal Studies 1. Fragile Bodies, Cross-Species Empathy and Suspended Allegories: ‘It Hurt, It Was Painful – that’s all there is to say’2. Anthropomorphism and the ‘Ends of Man’ in the Anthropocene: ‘My Chimp Nature’.3. Telling Nonhuman Stories: ‘The Secret Contours of Objects’ 4. Sexual Politics of Nature Writing and Lepidoptery: ‘The Siren Song of Entomology’5. Insect Ethics and Aesthetics: ‘Their Blood does not Stain Our Hands’ConclusionBibliography

This original work brings literary and philosophical insights to bear on the assessment of contemporary debates on human-animal relations in a range of interdisciplinary fields including new materialism, affect theory and posthumanism. With her customary elegance, Sands reflects on the metaphorical nature of perception and the complex relations between perception, imagination and cognition in our dealings with the nonhuman. Bold, provocative and highly enjoyable.