JIM DUTCHER is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer whose extraordinary camerawork has led audiences into places never before filmed: inside beaver lodges, down burrows to peek at wolf pups, and into the secret life of a mother mountain lion. His work includes the National Geographic special, A Rocky Mountain Beaver Pond, and ABC World of Discovery's two highest-rated films, Cougar: Ghost of the Rockies, and Wolf: Return of a Legend. JAMIE DUTCHER, Jim's wife and co-producer, has worked in the animal hospital of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., bringing her knowledge of animal husbandry and medical care to film and enabling her to quickly gain access to the sensitive and secret inner lives of wolves. The author lives in Idaho.

Of all the animals caught in the crosshairs of environmental dilemmas, the wolf is the most challenging. Many people have strong feelings, in part because of the kinship of wolves with dogs, clearly visible in the array of photographs in this book. Jim and Jamie Dutcher have spent years getting to know these animals, gaining the trust of a small pack with whom they shared a 25-acre enclosed compound in wilderness Idaho. Their photographs, stories, observations, and evaluations come from living intimately with the wolves and challenge many deeply held misconceptions about this animal, so maligned in legend yet so closely related to man's best friend. The result is a unique, heartfelt, and clear-sighted vision of wolves and a passionate plea for new respect and understanding of the wolf's role in nature.