A Best Book of the Year: Scientific American , The Minneapolis Star Tribune , CounterPunch , The Telegraph, BookPage A Chicago Tribune Most-Anticipated Book of the Season “Epic . . . Slaght again shines his scientific-yet-soulful spotline on one of the world’s most amazing creatures . . . [A] fascinating survival-revival tale.” ―Michiela Thuman, The Minnesota Star Tribune The thrilling saga of the great Amur tiger and the scientists who came together, across the world, to save it. The forests of northeast Asia are home to a marvelous range of animals―fish owls and brown bears, musk deer and moose, wolves and raccoon dogs, leopards and tigers. But by the final years of the Cold War, only a few hundred tigers stepped quietly through the snow of the Amur River basin. Soon, the Soviet Union fell, bringing catastrophe; without the careful oversight of a central authority, poaching and logging took a fast, astonishing toll on an already vulnerable species. Just as these changes arrived, scientists came together to found the Siberian Tiger Project. Led by Dale Miquelle, a moose researcher, and Zhenya Smirnov, a mouse biologist, the team captured and released more than 114 tigers over three decades. They witnessed mating rituals and fights, hunting and feeding, the ceding and taking of territory, the creation of families. Within these pages, characters―both feline and human―come fully alive as we travel with them through the quiet and changing forests of Amur. We travel across time, too, as the fate of the species has been shaped by the history and politics of empires―such as the Qing dynasty’s Willow Palisade, which once slowed human settlement, or the later introduction of roads through Russian reserves. The Siberian Tiger Project became the longest-running tiger research initiative; its work continues to guide conservationists today. Jonathan C. Slaght’s Tigers Between Empires is the thrilling saga of the great Amur tiger and the scientists who came together, across the world, to save it. “Wild and delightful . . . Tigers is a book not just about animal conservation but about the bonds conservation can forge between humans.” ―Sulmaan Wasif Khan, The New Republic “Pure widescreen epic.” ―Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune “A heart-in-your-mouth saga . . . Riveting.” ―Dan Vergano, Scientific American “Weaving together history and folklore, scientific discovery and wilderness adventure, [ Tigers Between Empires ] is equal parts educational and exhilarating as it transports readers to Russia’s formidable, freezing and remote Far East to save the world’s largest big cat from rampant poaching and logging.” ―Rebecca Cairns, CNN “Slaght has a marvelous gift for putting the reader right inside the expeditions . . . [An] enthralling and, yes, inspiring story.” ―Jim Kelly, Air Mail “Compelling . . . [An] impressive addition to recent literature on big cat conservation.” ―Jonathan Guthrie, Financial Times “Remarkable . . . Part travelogue, part natural history, and part adventure tale . . . Lyrical and evocative.” ―Deborah Mason, BookPage “Exhilarating . . . Slaght not only has the skills of an intrepid wildlife adventurer, but also necessary gifts of description and advocacy to make it real.” ―Ann Kjellberg, Book Post “Fascinating and important . . . Slaght vividly evokes [an] astonishing landscape . . . A beautiful demonstration of how conservation efforts depend on local communities and political will.” ―Ruth Padel, Literary Review “Jonathan Slaght is no novice in this wilderness of wildernesses . . . He knows the terrain, the little towns and the people, and captures the textures of everything brilliantly . . . It feels as though reading [ Tigers Between Empires ] is itself a contribution to the tiger-saving efforts.” ― Strong Words “Captivating . . . Slaght brings [the tigers’] stories to life on the page with vivid detail and suspense . . . A hopeful celebration of the fight to save a vulnerable species.” ― Publishers Weekly “A well-crafted story of a successful conservation effort, against all the odds . . . [A] fluent narrative . . . as much about human history as it is about wild cats.” ― Kirkus Reviews “Immersive [and] . . . compelling . . . Informative and engaging . . . A well-researched and well-written account spanning the thirty-five-year history of the Siberian Tiger Project that blends personal stories, conservation, and field work on an iconic species.” ― Library Journal “ Tigers Between Empires is a riveting account of survival in the face of long odds, beautifully written and unforgettable. Jonathan C. Slaght introduces researchers consumed by fieldwork, as well as individual tigers as full actors in their own story, showing how the team struggles to live another day while providing knowledge that might help tigers gain a lasting foothold in a landscape filled with dangers.” ―Andrea Pitzer, author of Icebound: Shipwrecked