Like others in this series from Marg Publications, this is a lavishly illustrated and information-packed glossy work of deep scholarship and detailed field knowledge - a difficult combination to achieve. One of the real eye-openers for me was the fresh insight into the personality of the last Nawab of Junagadh, Mahabbatkhan, who took his state over to Pakistan and precipitated a crisis and is thus generally reviled, but who staunchly protected his lion against pressure from his brother princes and the British gentry to permit shooting for trophies. There are also separate chapters on the current status, and the pros and cons of creating a second home outside Gujarat. All in all, this should be a last word on the lion in India (the author also has a separate book on the same, but I am assuming that there will not be much additional material there; I may be mistaken). The author has a similarly well-researched book on the Cheetah. ( )