It spans ninety years and explores everything from the shift in status of dogs from working farmhands to beloved family members, from the birth of obedience training to the evolution of dog breeding, from the rise of Hollywood to the past and present of dogs in war. It is also a richly textured history of twentieth-century entertainment and entrepreneurship. At its core, Rin Tin Tin is a poignant exploration of the enduring bond between humans and animals.

The canine hero's legacy was cemented by Duncan and a small group of others-including Bert Leonard, the producer of the TV series, and Daphne Hereford, the owner of the current Rin Tin Tin-who have dedicated their lives to making sure the dog's legend will never die. During the decades that followed, Rinty and his descendants rose and fell with the times, making a tumultuous journey from silent films to talkies, from black-and-white to color, from radio programs to one of the most popular television shows of the baby boom era, The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin. At the height of his popularity, Rin Tin Tin was Hollywood's number one box office star. Over the next ten years, Rinty starred in twenty-three blockbuster silent films that saved the studio from bankruptcy and made him the most famous dog in the world. Duncan brought Rinty home to California, where the dog's athleticism and acting ability drew the attention of Warner Bros.

He saw something in Rin Tin Tin that he felt compelled to share with the world. To Duncan, who came of age in an orphanage, the dog's survival was a miracle. It begins on a battlefield in France during World War I, when a young American soldier, Lee Duncan, discovered a newborn German shepherd in the ruins of a bombed-out dog kennel.

Orlean, a staff writer at The New Yorker who has been hailed as 'a national treasure' by The Washington Post, spent nearly ten years researching and reporting her most captivating book to date: the story of a dog who was born in 1918 and never died. So begins Susan Orlean's sweeping, powerfully moving account of Rin Tin Tin's journey from orphaned puppy to movie star and international icon.

Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean