It seemed like a good idea at the time... When the catlike Kzin discovered the human region of the galaxy, they thought it was time to scream and leap again. Bred to be conquering warriors, they thought the salad-munching apes of Earth wouldn't even put up a good fight. Actually, they should have been more polite to the monkey boys and girls from planet Earth. Humans had developed a pacifist society because they had been good - "too" good - at war and knew that there's more than one way to skin a cat - even a Kzin. The Warrior Race has encountered its most formidible opponent - and Larry Niven's Known Space is aflame with war.