Unspeakable

Unspeakable: the Things We Cannot Say / Harriet Shawcross, 335 p.

A curious combination of memoir and research into the causes, benefits, and dangers of human silence.  The author experienced a period of selective mutism as an adolescent, and looks at that condition, as well as other occasions for silence such as certain monastic traditions and post-traumatic stress.  Unusual and compelling.

No beast so fierce

No beast so fierce: the terrifying true story of the Champawat tiger, the deadliest animal in history / Dane Huckelbridge, 280 pgs.

This book tells what is known about a famous tiger hunt at the turn of the 20th century.  With dwindling habitat and severe injuries that left this apex hunter at a disadvantage relative to her usual prey, she took to hunting people.  With a body count over 400 and people too scared to leave their homes to farm or hunt, an expert was called to take the tiger out.  Jim Corbett was an unlikely hero.  An Irish man who grew up in India, he was of slight built but immense bravery and skill.  Corbett dispatched with this, his first of many man eaters.  Later in life he became a vocal conservationist and did what he could to save the tigers. The author did a lot of research and this story shows the fruit of his labor is good.  An engaging read.

No Beast So Fierce

No Beast So Fierce: the Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History / Dane Huckelbridge, 280 p.

This very fine work of nonfiction brings to mind John Vaillant's The Tiger, about a man-eating Amur tiger in Russia.  In this case, it's a Bengal, the place is the Himalayan border area of Nepal and India, and the time is 1907.  The Champawat, by most estimates, killed 450 humans over many years before it was hunted and killed by Irish-Indian Jim Corbett.  The author does a great job of pulling apart the environmental and geopolitical factors that pushed the tiger to the edge of its habitat and forced it to turn to humans as its primary food source.  My only criticism, and it's one I make frequently, is...maps.  More maps.  Please!