Animals have played a vital role in shaping the city of Seattle, from its founding amid existing indigenous towns in the mid-19th century to the livestock-friendly town of the late 19th century, to the pet-friendly, livestock-averse modern city.

Eagle Harbor Book Company will host a brown bag lunch event with Seattle author Frederick Brown, where he will discuss that storied progress as recounted in his new book “The City is More than Human: An Animal History of Seattle” in the store’s used book annex at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 21.

When newcomers first arrived in the 1850s, they hastened to assemble the familiar cohort of cattle, horses, pigs, chickens and other animals that defined European agriculture. This, in turn, contributed to the dispossession of the native residents of the area.

However, just as these animals were used to create a Euro-American city, the elimination of these same animals from Seattle was key to the creation of the new middle-class neighborhoods of the 20th century.

As dogs and cats came to symbolize home and family, Seattleites’ relationship with livestock became distant and exploitative, demonstrating the deep social contradictions that characterize the modern American metropolis.

Throughout Seattle’s history, people have sorted animals into categories and into places as a way of asserting power over animals, other people and property. In his book, Brown explores the dynamic, troubled relationship humans have with animals and, in so doing, challenges us to acknowledge the role of animals of all sorts in the making and remaking of cities.