The Tiger

A True Story of Vengeance and Survival

By: John Vaillant

Narrated by: John Vaillant

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

It’s December 1997, and a man-eating tiger is on the prowl outside a remote village in Russia’s Far East. 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 19th and early 20th 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.

This ancient, tenuous relationship between man and predator is at the very heart of this remarkable book. Throughout we encounter surprising theories of how humans and tigers may have evolved to coexist, how we may have developed as scavengers rather than hunters, and how early Homo sapiens may have fit seamlessly into the tiger’s ecosystem. Above all, we come to understand the endangered Siberian tiger, a highly intelligent super-predator that can grow to ten feet long, weigh more than six hundred pounds, and range daily over vast territories of forest and mountain.

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.

©2010 John Vaillant (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

2011, The Orion Book Award, Short-listed

“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 and Animals Make Us Human)

“This book is magnificent, surely the best chronicle ever published of the wild Amur tigers in Russia’s Far East. In it are chilling accounts of human encounters with tigers—but these encounters, however fearsome, convincingly demonstrate the role that these enormous cats continue to play in the natural world. Equally compelling are the people of Primorye, those who of necessity must hunt the tigers, and those who would preserve them. To call this book a page-turner is an understatement. It’s riveting.” (Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs, The Hidden Life of Deer, The Old Way, and Tribe of Tiger)

Haunting

Beautiful, prosaic, complex, dramatic, and soulful. I've been raving about this book to everybody. It's more than a narrative but instead an exploration of our own natural world as if it were a fairy tale. Nuanced depictions of history and mans coexistence with nature wrapped in delightfully Hemingway-esque descriptions. Truly wonderful.

Beautiful

Books read by the author are so much more rich. Well executed and gripping story that touches on the full colour of a single event.

excellent 👌

one of the best books I've ever read. inspiring riveting highly informative written in a captivating flow

Excellent

Great story about man and nature highly recommend to anyone interested in a great non fiction

Interdisciplinary approach to understanding the Amur tiger

This book is fascinating and brilliantly written. Not only are the prose vivid and engaging, the content is presented from a vast reservoir of perspectives and disciplines. If you’re interested in ecology, anthropology, or narrative nonfiction, this book is for you.

Incredible story. Amazing listen.

Absolutely loved it. It’s so much more than just a great story about a tiger. Excellent writing and great audio as well. Highly recommended.

W0W

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival is one interesting read through which John Vaillant (The Golden Spruce) takes up the story of revenge by a Tiger victimized by a poacher. Along the way reader is taken in by the storyline while being introduced to related economic, political, and conservation issues. Frankly, I have never read anything quite like this story. It is John McPhee with a dark story and twist. It is Yann Martel’s Life of Pi in a nonfiction narrative. Most impressive are the sections in which Vaillant lets the reader into the mind and cognitive nature of the Tiger. I was taken aback several times. In sum, this is a very interesting book. At least pick it up and read a few passages before you make up your mind. Vaillant reads his own book to great advantage.

best book I have heard in a while

It's based a true story of a tiger in Siberia, Russia that went rogue and started hunting humans in the mid 90's... so it has the hunter/prey aspect, the communist and government corruption, the environmental struggle of humans pushing animals out of their habitat, the historical legends of the tigers in that area... lots of different angles at play to round out a well balanced story

What man has in common with Tigers

Fascinating learning on the tiger and Taiga (environment), Russia & China (geopolitical analysis) and people and hunters (storying-telling): all wrapped up in one.

Great book! Audible only give you part of the book

Any additional comments?

Extremely disappointed in Audible, I down loaded this book only to find that they offer part one of the book and nothing else. Lost customer.