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Tigers are the largest and most powerful of the big cats, spiritual symbols of strength and courage. This special edition of LIFE tells the rich story of these extraordinary animals, exploring why they capture our imagination and how they fit into our current world. From visiting their origins as tree-dwelling insect eaters, to following a day in the life of a wild tiger today, the issue also chronicles remarkable true stories of creatures such as the man-eating tiger of Champawat who roamed in the early 20th century, and Machali the beautiful and beloved “Queen Mother of the Tigers” of recent years. Rich in narrative and brimming with beautiful, unmatched images the edition captures the majesty of tigers in their glory.

This is the Merlin Unwin Books edition and is the only one currently available which contains the iconic Raymond Sheppard illustrations which capture with remarkable verve and accuracy the dramatic highlight of each story. All royalties from the sale of the Merlin Unwin Books hardback edition go to the Corbett tiger reserve in India. The presence of a man-eating tiger in the Indian province of Naini Tal spread fear and panic throughout the impoverished rural community. This tigress had already killed 434 villagers by the time Jim Corbett was approached to track and despatch her in 1907. These thrilling and moving tales are Corbett's first-hand accounts as, over the ensuing 29 years and at the request of desperate locals, he expertly tracks and kills various specific tigers and leopards which had become man-eaters, driven to this by injury or extreme old age. No one understood the ways of the Indian jungle better than Corbett. A skilled tracker, he preferred to hunt alone and on foot, sometimes accompanied by his small dog Robin. Corbett derived intense happiness from observing wildlife and he was a fervent conservationist as well as a tracker and ace shot. He empathised with the impoverished people amongst whom he lived, in what is today Uttarakhand, and he established India's first tiger sanctuary there. Corbett's writing is as immediate and accessible today as it was when first published in 1944.