In pre-modern Japan, wolves were worshipped as sacred; with the spread of rabies in the 18th century, they became feared and hunted; by 1905 wolves had disappeared from the country. In this intriguing book, Brett Walker examines how and why wolves became extinct in Japan, and the changing attitudes toward nature that are implied. Brett L. Walker is associate professor of history at Montana State University and the author of "The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion", 1590-1800.