While the title of this book may sound as though it is less a scholarly study than a coffee-table book, which is in part true, it has as its subtext several timely and interesting themes that it explores quite well. These include alerting us to the heartbreaking fate of the elephant today, to its collision with modernity for which it stands as a symbol for emerging nations like Thailand, and to the way in which important local cultural and religious institutions were badly misunderstood and wrongly construed by the European colonialist enterprise. Beyond these, the book serves as a handy and interesting introduction to Thai culture. Rita Ringis manages to weave facts and views of the Thai elephant together with the country's history, religion, and politics. There are stretches here-as there can be much of a topic with a relatively tangential reference or need for the elephant to be introduced-but the text runs smoothly and there is never a jolt as topics switch.