Documents the Tasmanian tiger from an evolutionary as well as a historical perspective to scrub away some of the mysticism surrounding the animal and shore up its legacy with facts. -- Science News Drawing on newspapers, government reports, ships' logs, and interviews with Tasmanians old enough to have seen a thylacine, Owen tells the tale and seeks to explain this rush towards extinction. -- Times Literary Supplement Why would anyone want to read a book about the thylacine, an extinct Australian marsupial carnivore? Because it is one of the most fascinating and mysterious creatures that ever lived; so poorly understood that it was driven to extinction by people who had no idea what it was really like. --Richard Ellis, author of The Empty Ocean and The Extinction Scenario An enchanting book that reveals all we know about this little known animal. David Owen sweeps us along with his wonderful writing as we meet a truly incredible mammal that became the centerpiece in an ecological tragedy. Anyone interested in nature and the conservation of the diversity of life should read this story. --John Seidensticker, Senior Scientist at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and author of Tigers The thylacine, or as it is commonly known, the Tasmanian tiger, is not just an extinct animal. This book tells how it has also become a mythical story about humanity's relentless arrogance in the face of a world of wonder, the tragic fate of which is a warning for us all.

--Richard Flanagan, author, The Narrow Road to the Deep North This is the message that clearly runs throughout David Owen's absorbing chronicle of the once and future thylacine, recounting in fact-filled but never dry or wordy detail about the discovery and destruction of this remarkable species, and documenting the amazingly sparse extent of knowledge concerning it that was gleaned before it was lost to science, and the world, almost 70 years ago. -- Fortean Times.