Jim Corbett is famous for his exploits as a hunter, but there was so much more to the man than tracking down man-eating tigers and leopards. In fact, ‘Carpet Sahib’ (as many Indians called him) was a conservationist at heart, with a deep love for jungles – its flora and fauna; and its inhabitants – the birds and the animals, and the people – who lived in the lush Kumaon hills. It is this side of Corbett that comes to the fore in Jungle Lore.
Almost autobiographical in nature, Jungle Lore sees Corbett talk of his boyhood, the people he met, lessons he learnt in absorbing the jungle, his concern for the jungles and environment, and of course, there are doses of hunting expeditions too. There is even the odd story of detection and of supernatural sightings.
Jungle Lore is the first book anyone should read on Jim Corbett. Simply because it is about Jim Corbett the man who went on to become a famous hunter.
Although best known to most people as a famous hunter, Edward James ‘Jim’ Corbett (1875–1955) was a naturalist, a conservationist and a pioneering wildlife photographer as well. He is remembered for books such as Man-eaters of Kumaon (1944), The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudrapayag (1948), My India (1952), Jungle Lore (1953), The Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon (1954) and Tree Tops (1955), many of which have become classics. His love for India and its wildlife is reflected in the fact that India’s first national park was renamed after him in 1957.