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pp. [11] 207. “If given the time, food, and freedom from predators, a rat can produce 128,000 offspring in one year. Plague carrier, city vermin and an out-and-out menace to modern man, the rat, like death and taxes, is a certain fixture on humankind’s history. Rats are found in virtually every nook and cranny of the globe and their numbers are ever increasing. Popular movies such as Wilbur have only reinforced our terror of the rat and have given it a permanent place on our list of enemies. Rats are always adapting and they seem to outwit any attempts by humans to wipe them out. What makes the rat such a worthy adversary and how has it risen to the top of the animal kingdom? In Rat: How the Worlds Most Notorious Rodent Clawed its Way to the Top, Jerry Langton explores the history, myth, physiology, habits, and psyche of the rat and even speculates on the future of the rat and how they might evolve over the next few hundred years. From its origins in the swamps of Southeast Asia, to its role in the medieval Black Death to its unshakable niche in modern urban centres, the rat has incredible biological advantages that make it virtually indestructible. Rat: How the Worlds Most Notorious Rodent Clawed its Way to the Top transcends nature literature by combining biology with history, and social commentary with first-hand experience, to dispel the myths and expose the little-known facts about the ubiquitous rodent.”