This roundTable on animals in agriculTural history started innocently enough. We sought to gather together a group of animal historians to discuss new directions in what has become one of the most dynamic subfields in history. During our preliminary discussions back in September 2019, the theme of crisis was already on our minds. Several participants suggested that we discuss the relationship of animals to the climate crisis and the rise of the Anthropocene, and soon after we formally began, Australia began to burn on an unprecedented scale. So we were already talking about animal history with a sense of urgency about the present when news of a novel coronavirus began to spread. Before we knew it, the world was locked down and COVID-19 was our unavoidable daily reality.

Because of this dynamic, the roundtable became a kind of historical chronicle of what will surely be one of the transformational moments of the twenty-first century. Beginning with a superb discussion of the methodological and substantive questions of animal history—especially as it relates to agricultural history—the first half offers an informal guide to doing animal history generally, and within the context of the Anthropocene more specifically. Then COVID-19 appears, and the discussion shifts dramatically as the participants tackle a subject in real time, trying to make sense of a fluid situation using the tools of a historian. We can still only guess about the long-term outcomes and consequences of the pandemic, but this roundtable offers one example of historians helping to contextualize an especially bewildering sequence of events.