'Should we eat animals?' was, until recently, a question reserved for moral philosophers and an ethically minded minority, but it is now posed on restaurant menus and supermarket shelves, on social media and morning television. The recent surge in popularity for veganism has created a rupture in the rites and rituals of meat, challenging the cultural narratives that sustain our omnivory.

In The Meat Paradox, Rob Percival, an expert in the politics of meat, searches for the evolutionary origins of the meat paradox, asking when our relationship with meat first became emotionally and ethically complicated. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of our empathy, the psychology of our dietary choices, and anyone who has wondered whether they should or shouldn't eat meat.

'Utterly brilliant, in the range of its erudition, the power of its argument, its revelatory profundity and its compelling storytelling' Jay Griffiths

'A fascinating book, part cultural history of meat, part manifesto, part pilgrimage... Percival is a gifted writer' Sunday Times

'Impressively nuanced' The Week