JOHN VAILLANT

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 2014Absolutely spellbindingNew York TimesWill change how many people think about natureSebastian Junger______________________________________JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF NORTH AMERICAS 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 mans troubled relationship with a vanishing world._______________________Worthy of comparison to Jon Krakauers Into the Wild . . . A story of the heartbreakingly complex relationship between man and nature. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLYHis 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 JUNGERA haunting tale of a good man driven mad by environmental devastation LOS ANGELES TIMESAbsolutely 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 TIMESA haunting portrait of mans vexed relationship with nature.PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

**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 PainA superb book Daily Mail ·Masterful . . . mesmerising, rangy and relentlessSunday 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 tigers attacks arent random: it is seeking revenge. Injured, starving and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again.As he tracks the tigers 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 CrowthorneExtraordinary . . . a brilliantly told tale of man and natureNew York Review of Books

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZEA 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 YearNo book feels timelier . . . an adrenaline-soaked nightmare that is impossible to put downCal Flyn, The TimesSuperb and terrifyingKatherine Rundell, GuardianIt reads like a thriller . . . utterly compellingAndrea Wulf, author of The Invention of NatureAstounding on every pageDavid Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable EarthA towering achievement . . . extraordinaryRobert 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 centurys most intense urban fire, and an urgent examination of humanitys future in an ever-hotter, more flammable world.

"Le kayak et son propriétaire, Grant Hadwin, forestier expérimenté, étaient portés disparus depuis plusieurs mois. L’homme était un fugitif recherché pour un crime étrange et sans précédent." Un soir

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A gripping story of man pitted against natures most fearsome and efficient predator. This "travelogue about tiger poaching in Russias far east opens up a new genre ... [the] conservation thriller" (Nature).Outside a remote village in Russias Far East a man-eating tiger is on the prowl. The tiger isnt just killing people, its murdering them, almost as if it has a vendetta. A team of trackers is dispatched to hunt down the tiger before it strikes again. They know the creature is cunning, injured, and starving, making it even more dangerous. As John Vaillant re-creates these extraordinary events, he gives us an unforgettable and masterful work of narrative nonfiction that combines a riveting portrait of a stark and mysterious region of the world and its people, with the natural history of natures most deadly predator.

En mayo de 2016, Fort McMurray, el centro neurálgico de la industria petrolera canadiense y el mayor proveedor extranjero de Estados Unidos, fue arrasado por un colosal incendio forestal. La catástrofe, valorada en miles de millones de dolares, derritio vehiculos, convirtio barrios enteros en bombas incendiarias y expulso a 88.000 personas de sus hogares en una sola tarde. A traves de esta conflagracion apocaliptica equivalente al huracan Katrina, Vaillant advierte que no se trato de un acontecimiento unico, sino de un aviso de que debemos prepararnos para un mundo cada vez mas caliente e inflamable. El fuego ha participado en nuestra evolucion durante cientos de milenios, moldeando la cultura y la civilizacion. Nos ha permitido cocinar los alimentos, defender y calentar nuestros hogares y alimentar las maquinas que mueven nuestra titanica economia. Sin embargo, esta volatil fuente de energia siempre ha amenazado con eludir nuestro control, y en esta era de intensificacion del cambio climatico, estamos viendo como se desata su poder destructivo de formas antes inimaginables. El tiempo del fuego es un fascinante viaje a traves de las historias entrelazadas de la industria petrolera norteamericana y el nacimiento de la ciencia climatica, hasta la devastacion sin precedentes provocada por los incendios forestales modernos.

FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FIRE WEATHERThe Jaguars Children will be read for a long time to come. It is a major social novelPHILIPP MEYER, author of The SonA large, ambitious novelVANCOUVER SUNUnforgettable . . . a bold, heartbreaking novelTORONTO STARThis is what novels can do - illuminate shadowed lives, enable us to contemplate our own depths of kindness, challenge our beliefs about fateNEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Somewhere north of the US border, Hector 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 Cesar has lost consciousness but his phone still has a little battery. With it, Hector 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, Hector waits for a response and fights to hold on to hope. Suspenseful and fiercely compassionate, The Jaguars Children is a cry to be heard and a defiant reminder of the human will to live.PRAISE FOR JOHN VAILLANTS FIRE WEATHERImpossible to put downCAL FLYN, Sunday TimesSuperb and terrifyingKATHERINE RUNDELL, GuardianA must-readNICK RENNISON, Daily Mail

En mayo de 2016, Fort McMurray, el centro neurálgico de la industria petrolera canadiense y el mayor proveedor extranjero de Estados Unidos, fue arrasado por un incendio forestal. La catástrofe, valorada en miles de millones de dolares, derritio vehiculos, convirtio barrios enteros en bombas incendiarias y expulso a 88.000 personas de sus hogares en una sola tarde. A traves de la lente de esta conflagracion apocaliptica -el equivalente de los incendios forestales al huracan Katrina- John Vaillant advierte que no se trato de un acontecimiento unico, sino de un impactante anticipo de lo que debemos prepararnos para un mundo mas caliente e inflamable. El fuego ha participado en nuestra evolucion durante cientos de milenios, moldeando la cultura, la civilizacion y, muy probablemente, nuestro cerebro. El fuego nos ha permitido cocinar nuestros alimentos, defender y calentar nuestros hogares y alimentar las maquinas que mueven nuestra titanica economia. Sin embargo, esta volatil fuente de energia siempre ha amenazado con eludir nuestro control, y en nuestra nueva era de intensificacion del cambio climatico, estamos viendo como se desata su poder destructivo de formas antes inimaginables. Con una prosa magistral y una mirada cinematografica, Vaillant nos embarca en un fascinante viaje a traves de las historias entrelazadas de la industria petrolera norteamericana y el nacimiento de la ciencia climatica, hasta la devastacion sin precedentes provocada por los incendios forestales modernos, y las vidas cambiadas para siempre por estos desastres. La urgente obra de John Vaillant es un libro para -y desde- nuestro nuevo siglo del fuego, que no ha hecho mas que empezar."Pocos libros sobre el cambio climatico han captado de forma tan visceral la destruccion que hemos provocado."- John Washington, New York Times Book Review "Vaillant tiene un mensaje escalofriantemente serio: Este es el resultado inevitable del cambio climatico, y ocurrira una y otra vez."-The New York Times

Una obra de arte de no ficción narrativa que combina el retrato de una de las regiones más bellas y misteriosas del planeta y la historia natural del depredador más temible del mundo.Diciembre de 1997, un tigre siberiano tiene atemorizada a toda una poblacion en el extremo oriental de Rusia, una fuerza terrible a las ordenes de una mente que acecha implacablemente a su nueva presa: el hombre.Un equipo de rastreadores tiene que adentrarse en el corazon de la taiga para perseguir a este astuto animal y detenerlo antes de que vuelva a atacar; pero a medida que encuentran los restos destrozados de las victimas se dan cuenta de que los ataques no son aleatorios, el tigre elige a sus presas humanas, las persigue y las aniquila, como si se tratara de un asesino en serie o estuviera ejecutando un minucioso plan de venganza.Reseñas:Vaillant es tan extraordinario en el manejo de la ciencia como en el del suspense. Consigue que lleguemos a imaginar como seria estar en un pueblo diminuto, aislado del resto del mundo, a merced de una bestia dotada de memoria y del don de la invisibilidad.Christopher McDougall, autor deNacidos para correrUna obra maestra, un clasico de la no ficcion.OutsideEl tipo de libro que me encanta y que nunca encuentro.Annie Proulx, autora deBrokeback MountainUna historia fascinante.Washington PostPor favor, lean el libro de John Vaillant.San Francisco ChronicleLo que hace que esta historia de aventuras pase de ser atractiva a brillante es como Vaillant usa la caza del tigre como una lente alegorica que explica el colapso cultural, economico y medioambiental de la Rusia poscomunista.Library JournalRepleto de suspense y narrado magistralmente. Una poderosa elegia que lleva a los lectores a la guarida del tigre y al corazon del Kremlin para explicar por que el tigre siberiano ha pasado de ser venerado a ser cazado furtivamente.Publishers WeeklyVaillant logra empatizar de tal forma con los protagonistas, humano y animal, que es dificil creer que no estuviera alli.The Financial Time