Blue Tiger [Paperback]

Harry R. Caldwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2007

Harry R. Caldwell was a Methodist missionary to southern China. In Blue Tiger, first published in 1924, he wrote about several of his adventures in that country. An avid hunter and amateur naturalist, he noted the challenges of hunting big-game like serow, big-horn, wapiti, boar, and tiger. He described how hunting man-killing tigers paved the way for effective mission work, and spent several chapters discussing the political landmines of trying to affect peace between soldiers and bandits in an effort to spare villagers caught between the fighting. Of particular interest, Caldwell described a fascinating creature, a blue-morph tiger, that he attempted to capture for science. This non-facsimile reprint includes an additional appendix has been added, in which Roy Chapman Andrews described the hunt for the blue tiger.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Coachwhip Publications (April 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930585381
• ISBN-13: 978-1930585386
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,704,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Window Into History, February 22, 2010

By 

John Pilley (Washington State, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue Tiger (Paperback)

Harry R. Caldwell was my grandfather. The five star rating is, of course, influenced by that but only a little. He was a remarkable man living in a country and a time that is relatively little documented, especially in the first person. He was a humble man of many talents and was known to understate his accomplishments. This book gives us a glimpse, from a Western perspective, of early 20th century China. It reveals a China not yet polluted; a China dominated by war lords, superstition and subsistence living. He was a missionary but also a naturalist, adventurer, explorer and inventor. Quite a number of flora and fauna were brought to attention of the world by him. He was a guide to Roy Chapman Andrews into Outer Mongolia when Mr Andrews discovered fossil dinosaur eggs. The Savage arms corporation used him in their advertising (he once held the world record for a Big Horn Sheep shot in Mongolia). A book could be easily written about his life, but here I am speaking of his book. His writing style is his own - he did not try to be a "Dickens". His subject matter was what interested him - the events of his life. These events, as told in this book, illuminate a small segment of World History in a very entertaining way.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a rare book by a childhood friend of mine, March 11, 2008

By 

mathwonk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Tiger (Paperback)

I am amazed and pleased this book is back in print. As a child our neighbors the Caldwell family, including my mom's best friend, were an impressive group of ex missionaries, scholars and writers, of whom the patron was the 80 year old Harry Caldwell. He had been a lifelong naturalist (over 100,000 exhibits in the Smithsonian, birds nests, eggs, wild animals, etc...), tiger hunter, world record holder for big horn sheep kill, and diplomat in old pre Mao China.

I still remember the time I invited him to my 8th grade camping trip. The first thing my teacher said was he didn't realize my friend, then 80+, was so old, then everyone was quickly amazed that he out walked us, plus knew the name of literally every plant, butterfly, insect, ,,,that we passed in our walk. His hand illustrated book on the butterflies of China is still unpublished to my knowledge because of expense of reproducing hand painted water color illustrations.

We ate at their home, visited with Chinese students from Borneo (now Malaysia), and listened to stories of shooting tigers, (once with only a 22!), and Kodiac bears. Harry confided that the world famous Roy Chapman Andrews who wrote the preface and appendix in this edition, had actually wet himself in the blind when they were stalking a dangerous animal. Harry himself only says in his book, about the time when he ran out of bullets while surrounded by tigers, "I have never again felt quite the way I did then."

If you want a taste of the old China of the early 20th century, through the eyes of someone who thought small town US life then was too worldly, take a look. As I recall, the writing is not great, but the story is unparalleled. This a China that even today's Chinese citizens likely do not know.