Tigers and the imperial imagination

This book offers a history of British and French imperial cultures from 1700–2000, examining how narratives about tigers shaped understandings of Asian empires. It analyses scientific writings, hunting accounts, visual culture, and administrative archives to show how representations of tigers circulated across imperial networks linking Europe and Asia. By tracing how these animals entered Western knowledge systems and popular imaginations, it demonstrates how ideas about nature, power, and colonial authority became embedded within everyday cultural forms. The study highlights the entanglement of zoology, environmental history, masculinity, and imperial governance, revealing how stories about tigers informed broader interpretations of empire and global modernity.