Elephant Man
Posted: February 27th, 2016Review of Elephants and Kings: An Environmental History by Thomas R. Trautmann and Elephant Company by Vicki Constantine Croke.
On the Animals in War Memorial on Park Lane, London, two heavily laden mules approach a large curving stone wall on which are carved dogs, pigeons and other animals. An elephant features there too, which is perhaps more surprising as, although their deployment by Hannibal and by India’s princes and emperors is well known, their wartime use by the British is largely forgotten.