When Cats Reigned Like Kings: On the Trail of the Sacred Cats

Veteran foreign reporter Geyer (Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro; Buying the Night Flight: The Autobiography of a Woman Correspondent) brings her profiling skills to a more lighthearted but still complex topic--""the true history, legends, and sagas of the cats who served the human need for symbols of the spirit and of sacredness and royalty""--in this charming blend of reportage and personal history. Inspired by her first feline, Pasha, Geyer travels to Egypt to investigate a number of cat ""mysteries"" at the Egyptian Museum and the ruins of the cat temple Tell Basta at Bubastis. Later, inspired by Nikko, her Japanese Bobtail, she travels through Burma, Bangkok, Siam and Tokyo to explore why their ancient societies revered ""cats, and cats alone."" Geyer keeps a light, playful tone through most of the book; Pasha's regal bearing makes her realize that ""although I had met many males who thought they were gods, I was for the first time sleeping with one."" A later section offers impressively concise descriptions of more than 30 breeds, and both this and her chapters about her travels easily support her belief that ""all cats are beautiful and... share in that sacred and royal spirit that they exemplify in themselves and inspire in us humans."" Photos.