The Lone Lion

A great lion awakes from his slumber in a faraway tundra. He knows not where he is or even who he is, yet he knows he cannot stay there. Finding creatures along the way, join this lion on his journey to brave the snowy storm and find a home.

A heart-pounding story based on the experiences of Leon, a young Special Forces sniper that was placed in the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) to learn from the best how to profi le and apprehend serial killers. But, while working on a case, he loses his girlfriend. He vows to fi nd and bring the perpetrators to justice for this crime. Africa would challenge his way of life and aft er four long years in the desert, Leon is again faced with a choice between love and fi nding the person responsible for numerous hideous crimes. Has he learned or will his judgment be clouded by revenge?

From the author of the memoir Into Africa, “a fast-paced, unsentimental sequel” about the Serengeti lions and the politics of protecting them (Discover). If you are a morani (warrior), you have your spear at the ready—you could be the hero, but you will have to wait until the morning light before you can go out and prove yourself. If it is a lion, you want to be the first to spear it—and if the lion turns on you, make sure it mauls you on your chest or stomach, on your face, shins, or throat. Any place where you can show your scars with pride, show the incontrovertible evidence of courage. A scar on your back would be a permanent reminder of cowardice, an ineradicable trace of shame. Monsters take many forms: from man-eating lions to the people who hunt them, from armed robbers to that midnight knock at the door of a cheap hotel room in Dar es Salaam. And celebrated biologist Craig Packer has faced them all. Head on. With Lions in the Balance, Packer takes us back into the complex, tooth-and-claw world of the African lion, offering revealing insights into both the lives of one of the most iconic and dangerous animals on earth and the very real risks of protecting them. A sequel to his prize-winning Into Africa—which gave many readers their first experience of fieldwork in Africa, of cooperative lions on dusty savannas, and political kidnappings on the shores of Lake Tanganyika—this new diary-based chronicle of cutting-edge research and heartbreaking corruption will both alarm and entertain. Packer’s story offers a look into the future of the lion, one in which the politics of conservation will require survival strategies far more creative and powerful than those practiced anywhere in the world today. Packer is sure to infuriate millionaires, politicians, aid agencies, and conservationists alike as he minces no words about the problems he encounters. But with a narrative stretching from far flung parts of Africa to the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and marked by Packer’s signature humor and incredible candor, Lions in the Balance is a tale of courage against impossible odds, a masterly blend of science, adventure, and storytelling, and an urgent call to action that will captivate a new generation of readers. Praise for Lions in the Balance “Lions in the Balance mixes episodes of spy novel intrigue with detailed descriptions of scientific studies and PowerPoint presentations.” —New York Times “One of the top books of the year. . . . This candid volume is sure to divide opinion, but it is far more than a chronicle of Packer’s campaigns. There are also dozens of surprising facts about the book’s heroes—the lions—and measured commentary on a host of complex issues. . . . The book will make you think.” —Geographical

In this inspiring book, dozens of true stories show how God responded to the requests of his people--sometimes in most surprising ways.

Go back to a time in history when the Roman Empire controlled most of the world, and a hundred thousand men spent their days at the Coliseum and other arenas watching vicious wild animal performances. In Marleen Kunze's Escape from Rome, the adventure begins when the Coliseum manager's teenage sons witness a bloody performance and rescue a man destined to be trampled and gored by wild rhinos. The fateful rescue angers the emperor and endangers the lives of Nolan's entire family. Fleeing from the ruthless Emperor Domition, a handful of teenagers join the hunting team Nolan sends to Africa. As they travel around the Great Sea, they search for wild animals, survival skills, and the truth about God. But will the family escape from Rome and find the Christian faith they realize they are seeking, or will they be hunted down by the emperor's men and sent running for their lives from ferocious lions at the emperor's birthday celebration?

The illegal killing of Cecil – a famous and magnificent black-maned Zimbabwean lion – by an American big-game hunter in 2015 sparked international outrage. More significantly, it drew the world's attention to the devastating plight of Africa's lions. A century ago, there were more than 200,000 wild lions living in Africa. Today, with that population reduced by more than 90 per cent, many experts believe that without effective conservation plans, Africa's remaining wild lions could be completely wiped out by the mid-half of this century. When the Last Lion Roars explores the historic rise and fall of the lion as a global species, and examines the reasons behind its catastrophic decline. Interwoven with vivid personal encounters of Africa's last lions, Sara Evans questions what is being done to reverse (or at least stem) this population collapse, and she considers the importance of human responsibility in this decline and, more crucially, in their conservation. From the Lion Guardians in Kenya to the Living Walls of Tanzania, and the Hwange Lion Research Project in Zimbabwe, Sara meets both lions and their champions, people who are fighting to bring this iconic species back from the brink of extinction.

First book-length treatment of a fascinating medieval French romance, underlining its influence in the genre. Partonopeus de Blois is one of the most important works of twelfth-century French fiction; it shaped the development of romance as a genre, gave rise to adaptations in several other medieval languages and even an opera (Massanet's Esclarmonde). However, partly because of its complicated transmission history, and partly due to the fact that it has been overshadowed by the works of Chrétien de Troyes, it has been unjustly neglected. This firstfull-length study of the romance brings together literary, historical and manuscript studies to explore its making as it evolved through seven medieval "editions", the earliest of which probably predated most of Chrétien's romances. The book's thematic analyses show how the Partonopeus poet applied established techniques of rewriting to a wide range of classical, vernacular and Celtic sources, combining this literary fusion with political subtexts to create a new and influential model of romance composition. Detailed studies of the Continuation reveal more ambitious experimentation by the original author, as well as the activities of a series of "editors" who continued to modify the text for over a century. A final discussion of patronage proposes a new reading of the poem's distinct narratorial interventions on women and love, and suggests a link between Partonopeus and a disturbing episode in the history of Blois. Penny Eley is Professor of Medieval French at the University of Sheffield.

We know the current political narrative: Iran is dangerous, full of terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. But Christopher Thornton here tells a different story: one of good food, liberal-minded people, beautiful architecture, and a country with a history spanning over seven thousand years that's been influenced not only by the myriad cultures spanning Central Asia but also by Europe and the West. Descendants of Cyrus introduces readers to ordinary Iranians living lives far different from what is shown on Western television. Thornton takes us through the cities of Iran, where he encounters robust, barely hidden black markets filled with American movies and music; sees the women of Shiraz explore modern fashion and beauty products with no fear of reprisal from a weakened regime; and meets the students populating the university town of Hamadan, where a generation of activists is finding its voice. Thornton draws from the past and present alike on each stop of this fascinating travelogue, using history to inform his conversations with citizens from all walks of life. Unexpected variety comes to light, embodying surprising religious and ethnic diversity, intellectual curiosity, a thirst for Western culture, and the desire to live a modern, secular life. A firsthand look at one of the least understood and yet most politically significant countries on earth, Descendants of Cyrus taps into the hidden pulse of a culture and a generation that promises to reshape Iran in a way few Westerners can anticipate.