Now for something very different to my normal offerings. I have had an interest in hunting and stories of man eating big cats for a very long time and have many books on these topics. I wanted a change so chose this book from my library.
Jim Corbett was a very famous hunter of man eating tigers in India starting in around 1902 until late in the 1930s. In fact the Corbett Tiger Reserve is named after him. It occupies much of the area where Jim was born and lived most of his life and was the first tiger reserve in India. I am delighted to say I have been there on one of our visits to India. Unfortunately we did not see a tiger during our four day stay but did see an elephant pushing a tree over so as to eat the leaves at the top, very impressive.
Jim wrote only six books all of which I have. This one was the second and relates the two years in 1925-6 that Jim hunted the leopard. It is generally considered his best book although the first, Man Eaters Of Kumaon, is the most famous. It is the only book that deals with just one animal and gives the most spine tingling account of what it was like to hunt a man eating leopard that killed over 125 people during an 8 year rein of terror.
I am a great fan of Jim Corbett. His writing is clear, concise and down to earth. His exploits are related with a large degree of humility and a great deal of sympathy for the local people. He loved India and her people and indeed was one of them as both he and his parents had all been born there. He led an interesting and exciting life that, although it overlapped mine by three years, describes a world that has now largely vanished.
If you ever get the chance to read a Jim Corbett book please do so, you will not be disappointed.
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