THE LONELY TIGER. By Hugh Allen.

(1960) 2017 reprint of 2014 new edition. 8vo (135 x 205mm). Ppxviii,213. Not illustrated. Black boards, spine titled in gilt.

"After being discharged from the British Armed Forces at the end of the Second World War, Hugh Allen - and his widowed sister Babs - decided on impulse to settle down on an estate in Mandikhera, an obscure village in central India, hoping to live the quiet life of a farmer. But even as his crops flourished, they suffered the attentions of the hungry denizens of the surrounding forest. Allen was thus compelled to take up arms to defend his crops and, occasionally, the villagers of Mandikhera. The Lonely Tiger recounts Allen's encounters with animals of all kinds: snappish tigers in heat; a wounded, angry leopard; a surly, murderous boar; chattering, helpful monkeys; an enraged she-bear protecting her cubs; and a melancholy tiger that has lost his family to poachers. Hugh Allen narrates his adventures in spare, taut and thrilling prose which brings the jungle-and the hunt-to pulsating life. And while The Lonely Tiger is one of the best shikar books to have been ever written, it is also one of the earliest appeals to conserve India's rapidly vanishing wildlife. Appearing in print after a hiatus of more than half a century, The Lonely Tiger is a must read." Chapters include:- The odd chance; The third kill; Eight annas a tail; The laughing leopard; The Kharnta tiger; Joe; Never be too sure; Death in sixty-five minutes; The lonely tiger; Midnight encounter; Tigers' trap; Monkey's folly; The three bears; Tiger in a typhoon; Epilogue. "This book is a treasure house of wild and unique encounters that the author had with wildlife in the very heart of India between 1950 and '60. An account of a life lived with tigers, leopards and other wildlife at the edge of the Satpura Mountains, The Lonely Tiger is essential reading for those who love the wilderness." (Valmik Thapar).