Why am I passionate about this?
James' 3 favorite reads in 2023
Plus, James' 10-year-old's favorite books.
Why did James love this book?
This non-fiction book takes you to a distant place in what feels like a distant time: the Russian Far East region of Primorski Krai on the Pacific, a giant forest on the Pacific that used to be a part of China and full of huge Siberian tigers, but at the time of the book – the period of collapse following Glasnost – is full of rather down-at-heel poachers and loggers, policed by a small but dedicated team of conservationists.
When one of the poachers wounds a tiger, it tracks him down – apparently as revenge – and eats him, then goes on a killing rampage. Vaillant looks at the Indigenous people’s stories that attribute the tigers with almost magical powers, and the way the wounded tiger seeks vengeance does make you think again about its almost-human levels consciousness.
1 author picked The Tiger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
'An unbelievable tale, expertly told' Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain
'A superb book ' Daily Mail * 'Masterful . . . mesmerising, rangy and relentless' Sunday Telegraph
A man-eating tiger is hunting villagers in the snowy forests of Far Eastern Russia.
A small team of men and their dogs must hunt the tiger in turn. As evidence mounts, it becomes clear that the tiger's attacks aren't random: it is seeking revenge. Injured, starving and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again.
As he tracks the tiger's deadly progress, John Vaillant draws an unforgettable…