I was really looking forward to this book, being a fan of Andrew's other work and I wasn't disappointed. This book is packed full of the history, folklore and myths of cats, cleverly divided into sections which Andrew calls 'The Cat of the Night' and 'The Cat of the Day' to differentiate between the different roles the cat has played in the lives of us humans.
As a lover of cats even I was surprised by the huge part they have played in our lives throughout history, right up to modern day, with references to cats in films and TV shows (Sabrina the Teenage Witch being one of my favourites!)
I experienced many 'Oh yes!' moments while reading the book, as each saying, story or fact made me think back to when I had heard it before. Cats truly are embedded into our culture!
As always, Andrew's writing style is interesting and easy to engage with, as he includes personal anecdotes about his own cats, interwoven between the historical details. The book also has added black and white illustrations by the lovely Hannah Willow, which compliment each chapter. My absolute favourite part of the book has to be Andrew's poem, which is included in the Appendix and has the effect of rounding off the book perfectly.
As he rightly says in the final chapter: 'These beautiful, magical companion animals have lit up our history, revealed humanity at its worst and shown us how to love unconditionally. Our relationship with them has been one of change, of waxing and waning, of darkness and light, of the night and the day. That is the real magic of cats.'
Thoroughly recommended! 5/5