Anthony Bourke

John Rendall

A wondrous, serendipitous tale that tracks Christian's migration from London streets to Kenyan wilderness and the new friends, both lion and human (notably lion expert George Adamson of Born Free fame) that he finds there. Most astonishing, however, is that in 1971, after a year's absence, his old friends Bourke and Rendall returned to Africa and successfully reunited with Christian.

A Lion Called Christian

Recounts the story of a lion cub purchased by two friends from a London department store.

Based on the Amazing and Heartwarming True Story

Christian the Lion

ein Löwenbaby und seine zwei Freunde ; eine wahre Geschichte

Der Löwe Christian

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A stirring tale of a rare bond formed between humans and an animal.”—Time Two men. One baby lion. What could go wrong? A Lion Called Christian tells the remarkable story of how Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall, visitors to London from Australia in 1969, bought a boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London’s King’s Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity, cruising the streets in the back of a Bentley, popping in for lunch at a local restaurant, even posing for a fashion advertisement. But the lion cub was growing up—fast—and soon even the walled church garden where he went for exercise wasn’t large enough for him. How could Ace and John avoid having to send Christian to a zoo for the rest of his life? A coincidental meeting with English actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, stars of the hit film Born Free, led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of the “father of lions” George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions. A video of this reunion has become a YouTube classic. Originally published in 1971, and now fully revised and updated with more than 50 photographs of Christian from cuddly cub in London to magnificent lion in Africa, A Lion Called Christian is a touching and uplifting true story of an indelible human-animal bond. It is destined to become one of the great classics of animal literature.

The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion

Florence Bellot

En 1969, deux jeunes Australiens, Anthony et John, font l'acquisition d'un lionceau chez Harrods, à Londres. Le lion Christian et ses deux maîtres vont devenir les stars de King's Road. Mais Christian grandit vite. Trop vite. Faut-il dès lors le confier à un zoo ou lui rendre sa liberté ? En 1970, tous trois débarquent au Kenya où le célèbre George Adamson va aider Christian à se réadapter à la vie sauvage. Un an plus tard, de retour en Afrique, Anthony et John retrouvent avec bonheur et tendresse leur ami Christian. Aujourd'hui, sur YouTube, les images de ces retrouvailles émouvantes et exceptionnelles sont désormais cultes. Un lion nommé Christian est l'une des plus belles aventures sur le lien mystérieux et puissant qui unit parfois l'homme à l'animal, même sauvage. Un classique de la littérature consacrée aux animaux.

La merveilleuse histoire de trois amis et de leurs retrouvailles

Un lion nommé Christian

The story that captured the imagination of the world... In 1969 Harrods department store in London sold a three month old lion cub to two young Australians, John Rendall and Anthony (Ace) Bourke. They called him Christian. For a year Christian lived happily and safely with John and Ace and his human 'pride', initially in the World's End on the King's Road in Chelsea, where Derek Cattani first began photographing him. When Christian outgrew his London environment he was entrusted to the care of George Adamson in Kenya, who with his wife Joy, had successfully rehabilitated their lioness Elsa, the subject of Joy's Book Born Free. A year after Christian had been living in the wild John and Ace returned to Kenya to try and find him. The film clip of their emotional reunion has now been viewed by over 100 million people on YouTube. In 1973 Christian disappeared into the wild forever. George Adamson had uniquely rehabilitated a 5th generation zoo-bred lion. John and Ace's first book about Christian was a million seller in the 1970s, and enjoyed a huge resurgence of interest after their YouTube clip went viral in 2006. This brand new book from Bradt, collects Derek Cattani's never-before-seen pictures of Christian and updates the story to the present day, including the story of their YouTube sensation and a chapter on the murder of George Adamson. When John and Ace took Christian to Kenya in 1970 there were an estimated 300,00 lions in Africa. Today there are fewer than 25,000.

John Rendall

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