Mackenzi Lee has several books and bestsellers to his credit, especially for children and youth. It is also close to historical fiction. Even in History of the World in 50 Dogs, history will play an important role. The author recalls that the coexistence of humans and dogs began in the younger Stone Age, which continues to this day.
In chapters dedicated to individual dog breeds, he explains their origins, their breeding in royal and imperial courts from England to China and in everyday life in a nonviolent way. It carries stories not only about dog breeds, but individual dogs as well. From mythical quadrupeds to, for example, the first canine cosmonaut, the female Laika.
He also doesn’t shy away from more serious and less cheerful topics, as in the case of fights or lab dogs. He unmasked the famous naturalist IP Pavlov’s methods and the brutality of vivisection in the service of science.
The audiobook was created by actress Tereza Dočkalová and it must be admitted that it is a good and correct choice. It has been shown that the author describes the story of fifty dogs in a very casual narrative language, if necessary, he reaches for irony, sarcasm and does not offend the reader, or listener, even with the more concise terms used here and there. All of this fits perfectly with Dočkalova’s lighthearted speech, which makes you feel like you’re in the midst of a fun young student casually telling her friends about her dogs.
Therefore, do not be surprised if you sometimes laugh while listening to this recording. Apart from the more serious topics already mentioned, the Audiobook History of the World in 50 Dogs is a bit laid back and relaxed, but at the same time brings a lot of knowledge and interesting stuff.
Therefore, it is clear that Lee had to devote a lot of effort to the preparation, collection, and study of the background and material before the first edition in the original English in 2019. A fruitful endeavor.
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