Jim Corbett – författare

Man-Eaters of Kumaon, The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, and The Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon, the three classic collections of Corbett's hunting stories, which vividly bring to life the drama and beauty of the jungle and its wildlife are here brought together in a single volume for the first time.

Jim Corbett is world famous for his classic man-eater stories. However, the three volumes collected here show a very different side to this remarkable man.In My India, he describes the villages of the Kumaon Hills, and the customs and lifestyles of the people he encountered. Jungle Lore is the closest Corbett ever came to writing an autobiography, combining recollections of his earliest days with frank views on the need for conservation which were well ahead of their time. Finally, in Tree Tops, the only book Corbett set outside his beloved India, he captures the savage beauty of Kenya's wildlife as well as telling the story of the royal visit of 1952, during which Princess Elizabeth learned she was Queen.

‘Compulsory reading for anyone interested in the Irish Revolution.’ – Dr Matthew Potter, curator of Limerick MuseumDuring the Irish Civil War, between the 15 and 20 July 1922, the Republican-held Strand Barracks in Limerick, on what is now Clancy’s Strand, came under constant ferocious attacks from Free State troops.They attacked the barracks repeatedly with armoured cars, and a non-stop bombardment of sniper, machine gun and mortar fire. All attempts to capture the barracks were resisted fiercely by the brave men inside. Finally, when everything else failed to dislodge these gallant men, the Free State turned an 18-pounder Artillery Gun on the barracks. This was the only time a siege gun was used in Limerick since the siege of 1691. The officer in charge was told to surrender the barracks or be held responsible for the loss of life. His response was “he would not surrender while he still had ammunition”.This man was Captain Cornelius McNamara of ‘A’ Company, 2nd Battalion, Mid-Limerick Brigade, but was known to his men as Connie Mackey. An intimate friend of the former Irish president Sean T. O’Kelly, Connie was part of a golden generation of unselfish Irishmen with high ideals who were prepared to risk and endure everything for the sake of their country and countrymen. This is his story.

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.