The Second Jungle Book (Published in 1895) - Written by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling, a Nobel laureate was born in India to a vivacious Alice Kipling and sculptor Painter, John Kipling. His works range from poems, to children's books. Rudyard was a English language writer whose prose is peppered with colloquial usage and languages mainly from India which opens a window to the prevailing culture and customs of the time. His children's stories are the most endured classics of the time and his short stories are the most sought after. Many of his works are deemed to be controversial as the time progressed. Rudyard Kipling was the product of an imperial India where imperialism under Queen Victoria was at its heights. His poems like 'White Mans Burden' are often sited as a clarion call for the imperialist and has been criticized by subsequent humanist. But as one of the youngest Nobel Prize recipient for English Language, the place for Kipling in human history cannot be discounted and his prose and poems enthuse millions even today. Kipling died in 1936 in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
The Second Jungle Book is a sequel to the Jungle Book and features five stories of Mowgli and three unrelated stories. Kipling has set all these stories in India, but had written the script in Vermont. In the first Story “How Fear Came” all the animals have gathered around the watering hole where Sher Khan the Tiger brags about his ancient right to kill man. Hathi, the chief of elephants tells the story where in ancient times Tha, the king of beast had appointed the tiger as an adjudicator in his absence. That was the time of harmony where all animals were vegetarians. Tiger accidentally kills and runs away and is marked by creeping wines thus getting stripes for his act. Tha gives him the boon of one night when he is never afraid of the hairless beast, man.



The second story is “The Kings Ankus” where Kaa leads Mowgli to a underground lair which is guarded by a cobra. It is a lost city where jewels abound. Mowgli never realizes the worth of other treasures, but takes the bejeweled Ankus against the warnings of the Cobra. When Bagheera informs him that the Ankus is used to hurt elephants, Mowgli casts it away only to be found by a man. It leaves a trail of killings and Mowgli much, chastened takes it back. In Letting in the Jungle, Mowgli takes revenge from the villagers who imprison his adopted mother Messua with the help of Hathi the elephant.
In Red dog, Mowgli is warned by a waylaid wolf, Won-Tella about a marauding pack of Dhole or wild dogs. Mowgli urges his pack to stay and fight. With the help of Kaa he lays a trap for the Dhole and leads them to the terrible hives. The Dhole are decimated, but Akela, the wolf chief is mortally wounded. In his dying words, he urges Mowgli to seek his kind as he has paid his debt to his adopted wolf family.
The Spring Running is the last of the Mowgli stories. As a seventeen year old Mowgli feels the first awakening of attraction in him. He meets his mother Messua who now is a widow with a small son. On his visit he cannot keeps his eyes off a pretty girl. Bagheera tells him to listen to his instincts and ask him to return to his world. Mowgli leaves his pack to lead a human life.
The other stories involve "The miracle of Puran Bhagat", a politician turned holy man who saves the village from a landslide with the help of animals and “the Undertakers” which is a story of a crocodile, a stork and a jackal with their struggles against man. The last story is Quiqern, which is a nice break from the tropical jungle and takes place in an arctic jungle. Here the a young Inuit, Kotuko along with a girl companion follow a spirit called Quiqern. They need to find a seal and food supplies or their tribe is doomed. As Kotuko travels he finds that the spirit is really two live dogs leading them to the seal. Kotuko accomplishes his mission of getting food for his people.
The second Jungle book is more intense and more adventurous than the first one. It has more things to grab the attention of even the vicious Internet game fanatic. I am not ten anymore, but the tales and lores of Kipling's jungle gives me goose pimples even now. Just read it with your children and leave them in your debt forever. If not read it alone to be transported to a magical kingdom of the man cub and his friends. These tales never age, right?

River of Death (published in 1981) - Authored by Alistair Maclean - moving away from the cold and wet areas to the tropical jungle

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
River of Death is a thriller by Alistair Maclean which happens around the Amazonian jungle. Maclean has always placed his settings within the confines of the most inhospitable environments. Here the protagonists have to battle the jungle with insects, piranhas, crocodiles and hostile cannibal tribes. He says something for the preservation of the old civilizations and the environment itself.
The story opens with the fag end of world war two, where at the docks of Wihelmshaven, the SS soldiers are loading crates of gold and precious stones in the submarine. General Von Monteuffel and Colonel Spatz head overseeing the loading of the crates. Spatz leave to check on the operations along the border with the Russians and the general promises to wait for him. Spatz returns with Russians and allies hot on his heels and is betrayed by Von Monteuffel who leaves him stranded at the dock.



As the flash back settles in, the story moves in a different direction. John Hamilton, is the archaeologist who has discovered a lost city deep in the Amazonian Jungle. As soon as he has made the discovery public, Smith a German millionaire who has a mysterious shady connection makes him a proposal of funding the expedition to the lost city. Hamilton agrees and along with his trusted lieutenants, Ramon and Navarro, he sets off to the Jungle with Smith and his henchmen, Hiller and Tracy. In the group, Smith's secretary Maria is also present.
As soon as they set in to the Jungle they get easily lost. They fight huge crocodiles and insects. Maria who seems to have developed a soft corner for Hamilton is saved from the anaconda who has almost devoured her. Ramon and Navarro seem the happy go lucky people who crack jokes and are never afraid of anything. The whole group run for their lives from the cannibalistic tribes.
They soon reach the destination and the action hots up. They discover a German settlement which is headed by General Von Monteuffel. Smith is revealed to be Spatz who was seeking them to avenge his betrayal. Maria turns out to be the secret agent from the Mossad. As the action hots up many are killed and Von Monteuffel is captured. Hamilton reveals to him that his actions were also to avenge the killing of his wife by the general. Soon huge treasure and the murderers are captured and brought before the world.
Maclean has given an innovative setting for a thriller but fails to keep the reader riveted in his seat. The Action sequences are too predictable and many work in favor of the hero. So there is no adrenaline rush or a special affection for the characters. But the tale is short and one can finish it in two hours. So if you are in a mood for some flippant reading, take it up.

Jungle Lore - a book by Jim Corbett (published in 1953)

Jim Corbett was a famous man of the Jungle, who lived in the northern portion of India (the Kumaon and other Himalayan regions) in the first half of the 20th century, and was an expert in the Jungle. He could track animals like the best of them, and was much in demand, especially for killing those animals (tigers, leopards) who had started killing humans. This would happen if the animals were diseased, or badly injured enough that they could not catch their normal prey, or had realized that humans were easier prey, especially in the region that was hilly and very green. Jim Corbett would take up such assignments, tracking down these animals over the days required, and finally hunt them down. He had given up shooting for fun, and only killed when the need was for killing such man-eaters. In dedication to him, a famous tiger reserve called "Corbett Tiger Reserve" was named after him.



Nowadays, the message about the need to protect nature, to ensure that their is a correct balance between man and nature is maintained is very important, since the future of humans depends on maintaining this balance. However, many many decades before, Jim Corbett would write on the same subject, about the hills and the nature of the forests of Kumaon.
The book is about his life, his experiences, and what he learned as a result of his experiences. Corbett had a very strong respect for the animals of the jungle, and the overall beauty of the entire nature experience.