With over 100,000 copies sold to date, Legacy of the Cat is a "must for every cat lover's library" (Cat World International). This completely revised and updated edition offers all new photographs and text, as well as detailed descriptions of new breeds. Scores of beguiling full-color photographs accompany in-depth information on the origin, classification, and temperament (always a surprise) of each of the different breeds. This comprehensive volume chronicles the fascinating evolutionary history of wild and domesticated cats worldwide, including an extensive explanation of feline genetics and the hereditary processes and combinations that determine fur color and patterns in the different breeds. Extensive advice and information on breeding and showing cats, as well as the judging criteria involved in these formal exhibitions, are also offered for interested readers. And for those just recently initiated into the world of cat fancy, the photographs and breed-by-breed descriptions are a thoroughly engaging introduction. This splendid celebration of our bewitching, bewhiskered friends will inform and regale both professionals of the cat world and cat owners alike.