"The Medici Giraffe"

I am currently reading "The Medici Giraffe and Other Tales of Exotic Animals and Power" by Marina Belozerskaya. It is a collection of vignettes on various animals and their political significance as gifts to various wealthy, powerful people. The book covers the time period from Alexander the Great to the Chinese gift of Pandas in the 1970's. The author is not only an animal lover but also a great story teller. Each story is independent of each other and the stories do not have to be read in order. It is fairly light weight reading and the stories range from 35 to 50 pages each. I would recommend borrowing this from the library or waiting for a paperback printing as I don't think it is worth the $20.00 unless you are a really passionate animal enthusiast.