John Vaillant – författare

**From the author of the 2023 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction winning Fire Weather**'An unbelievable tale, expertly told' Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain'A superb book ' Daily Mail · 'Masterful . . . mesmerising, rangy and relentless' Sunday TelegraphA man-eating tiger is hunting villagers in the snowy forests of Far Eastern Russia.A small team of men and their dogs must hunt the tiger in turn. As evidence mounts, it becomes clear that the tiger's attacks aren't random: it is seeking revenge. Injured, starving and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again.As he tracks the tiger's deadly progress, John Vaillant draws an unforgettable portrait of a distant and brutal region, over 5,000 miles from Moscow. In the harsh depths of winter in Primorye, a gripping tale of man and nature unfolds.'Exciting, memorable - and perfectly, impeccably right . . . a tale of astonishing power and vigour' Simon Winchester, author of The Surgeon of Crowthorne'Extraordinary . . . a brilliantly told tale of man and nature' New York Review of Books

THE AWARD-WINNING INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, FROM THE AUTHOR OF FIRE WEATHER, WINNER OF THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTIONWINNER OF A WINDHAM-CAMPBELL PRIZE 2014'Absolutely spellbinding' New York Times'Will change how many people think about nature' Sebastian Junger______________________________________JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF NORTH AMERICA'S LAST GREAT FOREST.On a bleak winter night in 1997, a British Columbia timber scout named Grant Hadwin committed an act of shocking violence: he destroyed the legendary Golden Spruce of the Queen Charlotte Islands. With its rich colours, towering height and luminous needles, the tree was a scientific marvel, beloved by the local Haida people who believed it sacred.The Golden Spruce tells the story of the sadness which pushed Hadwin to such a desperate act of destruction - a bizarre environmental protest which acts as a metaphor for the challenge the world faces today. But it also raises the question of what then happened to Hadwin, who disappeared under suspicious circumstances and remains missing to this day.Part thrilling mystery, part haunting depiction of the ancient beauty of the coastal wilderness, and part dramatic chronicle of the historical collision of Europeans and the native Haida, The Golden Spruce is a timely portrait of man's troubled relationship with a vanishing world._______________________'Worthy of comparison to Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild . . . A story of the heartbreakingly complex relationship between man and nature.' ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'His story is about one man and one tree, but it is much more than that. John Vaillant has written a work that will change how many people think about nature.' SEBASTIAN JUNGER'A haunting tale of a good man driven mad by environmental devastation' LOS ANGELES TIMES'Absolutely spellbinding . . . descriptions of the Queen Charlotte Islands, with their misty, murky light and hushed, cathedral-like forests, are haunting, and Vaillant does full justice to the noble, towering trees.' NEW YORK TIMES'A haunting portrait of man's vexed relationship with nature.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

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 nineteenth and early twentieth 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.From the Hardcover edition.

When a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Northwest, they reignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest. Five months earlier, logger-turned-activist Grant Hadwin had plunged naked into a river in British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands, towing a chainsaw. When his night's work was done, a unique Sitka spruce, 165 feet tall and covered with luminous golden needles, teetered on its stump. Two days later it fell.As vividly as John Krakauer puts readers on Everest, John Vaillant takes us into the heart of North America's last great forest.

*WINNER of the BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION****AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER**** A Pulitzer Prize Finalist * A National Book Award Finalist * A Writers' Trust Award Finalist *'No book feels timelier than John Vaillant's Fire Weather . . . an adrenaline-soaked nightmare that is impossible to put down' Cal Flyn, The Times'Superb and terrifying . . . it reads with pace and flair and a rich, furious clarity' Katherine Rundell, author of Super-InfiniteA gripping account of this century's most intense urban fire, and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between humanity and fire's fierce energy.In May 2016, Fort McMurray, Alberta, the hub of Canada's oil industry, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster turned entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and drove 90,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the story of this apocalyptic conflagration, John Vaillant explores the past and the future of our ever-hotter, more flammable world.For hundreds of millennia, fire has been a partner in our evolution, shaping culture and civilization. Yet in our age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in ways never before witnessed by human beings. With masterly prose and cinematic style, Vaillant delves into the intertwined histories of the oil industry and climate science, the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern wildfires, and the lives forever changed by these disasters. Fire Weather is urgent reading for our new century of fire.'A towering achievement; an immense work of research, reflection and imagination' Robert Macfarlane'Astounding on every page. John Vaillant is one of the great poetic chroniclers of the natural world' David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth'It reads like a thriller . . . I could not put it down' Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE A Pulitzer Prize FinalistA National Book Award FinalistA Writers' Trust Award FinalistShortlisted for the Wainwright Conservation PrizeA Guardian Book of the YearA New York Times Book of the Year 'No book feels timelier . . . an adrenaline-soaked nightmare that is impossible to put down' Cal Flyn, The Times'Superb and terrifying'Katherine Rundell, Guardian'It reads like a thriller . . . utterly compelling'Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature'Astounding on every page'David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth'A towering achievement . . . extraordinary'Robert Macfarlane, author of UnderlandIn May 2016, a Canadian oil town was overrun by wildfire, turning entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and driving 90,000 people from their homes.Through the gripping story of this apocalyptic conflagration, John Vaillant explores our relationship with fire, an energy source that has been our partner in evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping our culture and civilization. Now, in our age of intensifying climate change, its destructive power has been unleashed in ways previously unimaginable.Fire Weather is an astounding account of this century's most intense urban fire, and an urgent examination of humanity's future in an ever-hotter, more flammable world.

FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FIRE WEATHERThe Jaguar's Children will be read for a long time to come. It is a major social novel'PHILIPP MEYER, author of The Son'A large, ambitious novel'VANCOUVER SUN'Unforgettable . . . a bold, heartbreaking novel'TORONTO STAR'This is what novels can do - illuminate shadowed lives, enable us to contemplate our own depths of kindness, challenge our beliefs about fate'NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Somewhere north of the US border, Héctor is trapped. The empty water truck, where he is hidden with fourteen other desperate people, has broken down. The exit is sealed and the coyotes seem to have vanished.His friend César has lost consciousness but his phone still has a little battery. With it, Héctor calls and messages 'AnniMac' - the only saved American number. He begs for help, explains their dangerous journey and gradually tells their story, from rural Oaxaca to the fractured city to the distant promise of a safe future in America.As hours turn to days, Héctor waits for a response and fights to hold on to hope. Suspenseful and fiercely compassionate, The Jaguar's Children is a cry to be heard and a defiant reminder of the human will to live.PRAISE FOR JOHN VAILLANT'S FIRE WEATHER'Impossible to put down'CAL FLYN, Sunday Times'Superb and terrifying'KATHERINE RUNDELL, Guardian'A must-read'NICK RENNISON, Daily Mail