Soul of the Tiger

McNeely, Jeffrey A.

ISBN 10: 0385242255 / ISBN 13: 9780385242257

Published by Doubleday, New York, 1988

About this Item

First edition. Cloth backed boards, 390pp. Near fine in d/w. Adventures of conservationist authors in the jungles of Southeast Asia, from Thailand and Burma, to Cambodia and Vietnam, to Malaysia and Indonesia.

Seller Inventory # 10749

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Soul of the Tiger
• Publisher: Doubleday, New York
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385242255
• ISBN 13: 9780385242257
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Dimensions: 28W x 24H x 4D centimeters 28 centimeters width by 24 centimeters height by 4 centimeters depth
• Weight: 885 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Anecdotes, facts, and observations on the role animals play in daily village life of Southeast Asia

Reviews

Crusades to save the environment often overlook the human factor; conservation projects are oriented more to animals than to people. This provocative and engrossing book focuses on the relationship between people and nature in southeast Asia, where the development of a world marketplace is undermining that relationship and thus the foundations of society. There, conservation is as much a social challenge as a biological one. The authors served in the Peace CorpsMcNeely in Thailand, Wachtel in Borneo; each has experience in rural communities "east of India, south of China, north of Australia." They pinpoint four major events ("eco-cultural revolutions") that have shaped southeast Asia: control of fire, domestication of plants and animals, irrigation and the world marketplace. The latter has now reached into the most remote and primitive societies on earth, affecting both people and wildlife. Among the diverse topics addressed here are Asian medicine; the monkeys of Siberut, Indonesia; headhunting; and ways to continue economic progress without ruining the environment. The book is a solid combination of natural history and anthropology. Nature Book Society main selection; Macmillan Natural Sciences Book Club and Library of Science Book Club selections.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

$19.95. nat hist This book combines natural history, mythology, and folk culture in an examination of the role of animals in Southeast Asian life, with mixed results. The first part introduces Buddhist and Hindu philosophies and sketches the influence of fire, irrigation, and commerce on the human relationship with wildlife. These chapters are disjointed and poorly focused. Much better are the chapters on individual animals, especially tigers, pigs, crocodiles, and even rats. The book concludes by arguing that the interest of rural peoples in preserving habitat and wildlife may be the last hope for rare species. Recommended for general collections, particularly for the extensive bibliography. Beth Clewis, Duke Univ. Lib
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.