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The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival

by JohnVaillant (Author)

  • New

    Paperback 2011

    $12.44

  • New

    Paperback 2011

    $17.46
Synopsis

It's December 1997, and a man-eating tiger is on the prowl outside a remote Russian village. The tiger isn't just killing people, it's annihilating them, and a team of men and their dogs must hunt it on foot through the forest in the brutal cold. As the trackers sift through the gruesome remains of the victims, they discover that these attacks aren't random: the tiger is apparently engaged in a vendetta. Injured, starving, and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again. As he re-creates these extraordinary events, John Vaillant gives us an unforgettable portrait of this spectacularly beautiful and mysterious region. We meet the native tribes who for centuries have worshipped and lived alongside tigers, even sharing their kills with them. We witness the arrival of Russian settlers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, soldiers and hunters who greatly diminished the tiger populations. And we come to know their descendants, who, crushed by poverty, have turned to poaching and further upset the natural balance of the region. Beautifully written and deeply informative, The Tiger circles around three main characters: Vladimir Markov, a poacher killed by the tiger; Yuri Trush, the lead tracker; and the tiger himself. It is an absolutely gripping tale of man and nature that leads inexorably to a final showdown in a clearing deep in the taiga.

$12.44

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 384
 Publisher: Sceptre
Published: 04 Aug 2011
ISBN 10: 0340962585
ISBN 13: 9780340962589
Book Overview: The gripping true story of the hunt for a man-eating tiger across the forbidding landscape of Russia's Far East...

Media Reviews
'Enriched by sparkling sidetracks into nature and history, this enthralling true-crime narrative takes us on a snowbound search not only for a beast but for a motive. Like its superb quarry, Vaillant's book moves with grace and stealth, covers a vast terrain and shakes the observer's soul' * Independent *
'The structure of Vaillant's nonfiction hunting tale echoes that of Moby-Dick, alternating a gripping chase narrative -- the search, in the late 1990s, for a man-eating Amur tiger in the Primorye region, on Russia's far eastern border -- with dense explanations of the culture and ecology surrounding the chase.' * New York Times *
'The Tiger also counts as a supreme example of true-crime writing driven by wide-angle empathy and compassion. Some readers may choose to shelve it, not among cosy wildlife yarns, but with Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.' * Boyd Tonkin, Independent *
'This is an altogether different kind of manhunt story . . . . The pursuit culminates in a breathtaking stand-off of man versus cat in a forest clearing - a denouement every bit as explosive and surprising as the raid in Abbottabad earlier this week.' * Hampton Sides, Wall Street Journal *
'A personal favourite of mine, an extraordinary account of a tracker on the trail of a Siberian man-eating tiger in 1997. Along the way we get a load of tiger facts and a beautiful portrait of a forbidding region. It is a stunning, lovely, lovely book.' * Bookseller *
'extraordinary ... a brilliantly told tale of man and nature' * Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books *
a remarkable story, exceptionally well told. * Financial Times *
The Tiger is the sort of book I very much like and rarely find. Humans are hard-wired to fear tigers, so this book will attract intense interest. * Annie Proulx *
'The Tiger takes us on a journey to the raw edge of civilization, to a world of vengeful cats and venal men, a world that, in Vaillant's brilliant telling, is simultaneously haunting and enchanting.' * Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers *
This book must be read by everybody who is interested in the conservation of wildlife. It takes you to the Russian wilderness to meet face-to-face with the Siberian tiger. * Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation *
An absolutely superb book. * George Schaller, Wildlife Conservation Society & Panthera *
A masterpiece * Outside *
Brilliant * US Library Journal *
'Few writers have taken such pains to understand their monsters, and few depict them in such arresting prose.' * New York Times Book Review *
instant classic * Calgary Herald *
'astoundingly gripping' * Toronto Star *
read this fine, true book in the warmth, beside the flicker of firelight. Read it and be afraid. Be very afraid. * Simon Winchester, Globe and Mail *
Breathtakingly exciting * Vancouver Sun *
A hair-raising tale in which conservation, madness and even murder collide. * Montreal Gazette *
fascinating and compelling plot * Ottawa Citizen *
Overall, this is a superb book -- hyper-intelligent, wonderfully well-written, with a great cast, both human and animal, and at its heart, the amazing and truly chilling story of one tiger's winter campaign of murderous revenge. * Daily Mail *
Riveting * Washington Post *
Not so incidentally, if ever a nonfiction author has used the techniques of fiction any better to recount a real-life narrative, it is difficult to imagine who that author would be. * Seattle Times *
By all means read Vaillant's magnificent book about the animal: The Tiger offers readers a shiver-inducing portrait of a predator that has been revered - and feared - like no other animal. * San Francisco Chronicle *
Enthralling * Christian Science Monitor *
Writing in a vigorous, evocative style . . . Vaillant paints a haunting portrait of man's vexed relationship with nature. * Publishers Weekly *
'Brad Pitt has bought the movie rights to The Tiger, but with all due respect to Mr. Pitt, there's no way the movie will match Mr. Vaillant's book.' * Washington Times *
'part natural history, part Russian history and part thriller; it tells a gripping and gory story of what it's like to stalk - and be stalked by - the largest species of cat still walking the Earth.' * National Public Radio (USA) *
'This masterful account of the terror, death and grief caused by a man-eating Amur tiger in Russia in 1997 is as mesmerising, rangy and relentless as the creature in question.' * *
'This masterful account of the terror, death and grief caused by a man-eating Amur tiger in Russia in 1997 is as mesmerising, rangy and relentless as the creature in question.' * Sunday Telegraph *
'affectionate account' * Times Literary Supplement *
'John Vaillant is a literary shaman.' * Quill & Quire *
Author Bio

John Vaillant is the award winning author of The Golden Spruce. He has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Outside, National Geographic and Men's Journal, among other publications. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife and children.