Last of the Free by Gareth Patterson

Last of the Free (Coronet Paperback, 1995)

The Moving Story of Three Orphaned Lion Cubs Returned to the Wild After the Murder of George Adamson

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Last of the Free: A moving story of three young lions, restored to the wild
• Author: Gareth Patterson
• Publisher: Coronet Books (Hodder and Stoughton), London
• Publication Date: 1995
• ISBN-13: 9780340638071
• ISBN-10: 0340638079
• Edition Details: Coronet paperback edition, first published in paperback in 1995 (first published in Great Britain in 1994). Signed by the author.
• Binding: Publisher's illustrated card wrappers, perfect bound, with a lion's face to the front cover.
• Physical Format: Medium softcover, 256 pages. Illustrated with a section of colour photographic plates.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Wraps: The glossy illustrated card wrappers show visible creasing and whitening along the spine fold, with white flecks of wear along the spine edges. The corners and edges are rubbed with slight wear, and faint crease lines can be seen near the front hinge. The back cover has small white wear marks at the lower left corner and edges. There is a slight curl to the covers.
• Interior: The text block is intact and securely bound. The pages are toned with age, and the colour plate section is present. The fore-edge is slightly uneven, with a small mark to the edge. Overall a clean, read copy.
• Provenance: Handwritten gift inscription in black pen on the title page: "Ma / From your son John / Happy Christmas 1995".
• The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)

Synopsis & Historical Value

Last of the Free, subtitled A moving story of three young lions, restored to the wild, is Gareth Patterson's account of his work with three orphaned lion cubs. They came into his care after the murder of George Adamson in Kenya, and he took on the task of rehabilitating them for life in the wild.

Patterson moved the lions to the Tuli bushlands of southern Botswana, where the narrative follows their return to the wild and the dangers they faced from humans. The tone is intimate and moving, and the book also touches on lion conservation, trophy hunting and the use of wildlife in southern Africa in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The story belongs to the Born Free saga, which began in 1956 with the Adamsons and Elsa the lioness. Patterson had worked as an assistant to George Adamson, and this book is a personal sequel to that world. This Coronet paperback was published in 1995, following the first British publication in 1994.

Author Profile: Gareth Patterson

Gareth Patterson is a conservationist and author, known for his lion and elephant protection work. He was an assistant to George Adamson at Kora National Reserve in Kenya, where he worked on lion rehabilitation.

His first book, Cry for the Lions, appeared in 1988. Later works include Dying to be Free (1998), Making a Killing (1999) and The Secret Elephants (2009). He has received the Operation Survival Award and the Cape Times Environmental Award.

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