The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for The Animals We Love (Hardcover)

by Jane Goodall (Author), Marc Bekoff (Author) "This book, written in collaboration with my colleague and friend Marc Bekoff, is our joint attempt to argue for a closer connection with the natural..." (more)
Key Phrases: minding animals, bushmeat trade, United States, New York, Old Man (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Goodall (My Life with Chimpanzees; Reason for Hope) and Bekoff, a biology professor at the Univ. of Colorado, offer a prescriptive conservation plan designed to protect animals as well as help educate people about the importance of saving both animals and the environment. The authors, who have also worked on Roots & Shoots, an international service program for young people, explain their position by including personal recollections and statistical evidence. Their position that people have chosen to destroy both animals and habitats and will continue to do so unless they radically change their behavior is stressed throughout the book: "It is sad to have to put a monetary value on the wilderness and on animal species. But until the wealthy nations can agree to pay an annual `rent' on huge areas of land, it seems likely that governments in the developing world will exploit their natural resources in any way they can...." The steps to action, including "Praise and Help Those Who Work For Animals and the Natural World" and "Value and Help Preserve the Sounds of Nature," are sound. For example, having children work with animal protection programs has already been successfully tried. Suggesting that kids "adopt" animal programs by making monetary donations is also practical. The book is particularly likely to interest people already active in environmental causes.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Hiking through the mountains of Colorado, Bekoff found inspiration for a series of exhortations that he and Goodall believe would drastically improve all animal life (humans included) if enough people took action. Among the 10 trusts are "Rejoice that we are part of the animal kingdom"; "Refrain from harming life in order to learn about it"; and "Have the courage of our convictions." A blend of anecdotes and scientific data illustrates why each trust is important. Informal in style, the book leisurely goes back and forth between authors, creating a conversational feel that works nicely. Plenty of primate stories from Goodall are intermingled with dog tales from canine-loving Bekoff. Particularly riveting are his accounts of his personal involvement with animal experiments. Along with what is cited in the text, the section on sources includes more than a dozen pages of books, articles, and Web sites. Here, readers who are already familiar with animal-rights issues will find fuel for their fire, and those who are not are likely to experience an awakening. Without a doubt, Goodall and Bekoff are very good at tugging at the heartstrings while feeding the mind. Eco-warriors will adore this one.
Sheila Shoup, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (October 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062517570
• ISBN-13: 978-0062517579
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,016,006 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rebuilding Our Ethics Through Trust, November 9, 2002

By A Customer

Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Marc Bekoff have compiled ideas, stories, experience and much more about living a humane and ethical life into a book accessible to all. As the animal protection community has done for 50 years, this book shows that humans must respect the environment and all life if we, as a species, expect to survive. It is a very simple premise yet humanity has yet to catch on. The Ten Trusts not only gives us a path to follow, but it shows how others have acted before in trying to alter destructive patterns. Caring for others (animals, humans and nature) is not something radical, it is - humane! It is something everyone must do.

Goodall and Bekoff share their experiences from living a life of compassion and a boundless ethic. Few people are as well known and respected as Jane Goodall, but she has never rested on her fame. Instead, she stepped away from her field research and beloved friends in Gombe National Park, not to build monetary wealth, but to share her wealth of knowledge with young and old alike through lectures and programs such as Roots and Shoots. While Bekoff has spent years educating a more humane youth at the University of Colorado, all while helping us to better understand and appreciate animal behavior.

Over the last two years the Bush administration has systematically deconstructed even basic protections for the environment in order to please corporate greed. The Ten Trusts talks about many issues, one of which will certainly reappear following recent elections, is the drilling for oil in Alaska's ANWR. Even though the American public is opposed to destroying the last pristine environment, the Administration hopes to lull us into a belief that it is needed.

This does not have to be. Goodall, who revolutionized how humans think about other species through her work with chimpanzees and Bekoff, who is a leader in showing us that the minds of animals are as unique and complex as ours, have concisely gathered a wonderful set of ethics into an easily readable book. A book that everyone should read because it shows how we really can and MUST be compassionate.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving, enlightening, reaffirming book., October 23, 2002

By	Laurie Ulrich Fuller (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful book, filled with information and perspectives from which everyone will benefit. I recommend this book to "the converted" as well as to those who are unsure what all the vegetarians and animal-rights people are going on about. It's not a preachy book and it's not purely for animal lovers or "tree-huggers" -- it's a book for any human who cares (even slightly) about how his or her life affects other lives--the life of the planet and the lives of the animals (including humans) who live on it. I cannot imagine anyone who could read this book and not be affected by it. It's also very encouraging to read about the success of Ms. Goodall's Roots & Shoots program -- hopefully, the generations touched by her knowledge will do a better job than we have.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Together we can make a difference, March 1, 2004

By	isala "Isabel and Lars" (Fairbanks, Alaska,, US) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This book lay for months on my bedside table before I found the strength to read it. I could not bear to touch it because I knew it would contain suffering. The book makes powerful painful reading. Once I started reading it I just could not put it down. In order to be able to make a difference I really needed to know what is going between humans and animals. How we abuse them. The book is not all gloom, it also tells about many persons who have come forward in their defence of animals. Sometimes even at great persnal loss.
The ten trusts are gives you a way to know!