Art? Ritual? Sport? Cruelty? Though opinions are divided, one thing is certain - bullfighting sparks passionate responses. Supporters argue that bullfighting is a culturally important tradition stretching back thousands of years; while animal rights groups argue that it is cruel and barbaric, causing unnecessary suffering to both bulls and horses. In A History of Bullfighting Elisabeth Hardouin-Fugier brings clarity to this debate through an exploration of the long history of killing bulls as public spectacle.

Author Biography

Elisabeth Hardouin-Fugier is Professor of Art History at the Universite Jean-Moulin in Lyon. She is the author of many books, including A History of Floral Painting (1992), A History of French Still Life in the Nineteenth Century (1998) and, with Eric Baratay, the acclaimed Zoo: A History of Zoological Gardens in the West (Reaktion, 2004).