This is the true story of Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Rendall, two friends who bought a pet lion cub and named him Christian. I picked up this book, not knowing anything about the story, never having seen the YouTube clip or read the previous release of the book from the 1970's.

I was curious, because I am a cat lover and a teeny tiny part of me has always liked to fantasize, ever since I was little, about what it would be like to own a pet lion or tiger. Now, I would never actually do that, I know how unspeakably cruel it would be, but that's a child's fantasy for you. Anyways, I was a bit hesitant about this book - who were these guys, Ace and John, who thought they could "own" a lion? Were they exotic animal collectors? Rich eccentrics who thought it would be "cool?" Did they mistreat him?

Thankfully, the answer to all of these questions is a resounding NO. Fellow animal lovers, you can read this book without fear. Ace and John prove themselves to be stand up guys. Two friends from Australia, traveling in Europe, who just happen to come across two lion cubs for sale at Harrods department store in 1969. As many of us would be, they were shocked and just couldn't bear the thought of leaving the cubs to their fate in a zoo, circus or some rich guy's "collection." Unfortunately, one of the cubs had already been sold, but they were told they could buy the young male cub, and they named him Christian. The department store would not allow them to take him right away, but they visited him every night after the store closed and played with him and his sister.

As surreal as it seems to us, that one could just find a lion for sale at a department store, the story gets even more dreamlike from there - unable to find a flat that will allow them to have a lion, or give him adequate room to run and play, Ace and John decide to move into the spacious basement of the antique store where they work, a place called Sophisticat. Christian had the whole basement to himself, and when he was smaller he was even allowed to run and play upstairs in the store with the customers! It seems amazing how well everyone, from the other staff at the store, to the clientele, responded to having a lion in their midst. The regular staff loved him and someone was always available to play with him when the others were busy. Christian would sit on the stairs and knock customers' glasses and hats off their head! People came to the store to see him, and when he accidentally damaged an expensive table a woman had purchased she declared that the claw marks would only remind her of that "magnificent creature!"

Everyone seems to have been supportive and loved Christian, and as John and Ace relate their stories about him, you can easily see why. Their stories of Christian sneaking around the furniture in the store and stalking them and pouncing at them reminded me of my cats and made me smile. At other times their stories amazed me because they really illustrate how intelligent Christian was, how friendly and how gentle. He never hurt anyone in his entire time living with them, even when he became stronger than they were.

When Christian grew too large to be happy or comfortable living in the shop, Ace and John got help from some celebrities who knew a man - George Adamson - whose life work was dedicated to rehabilitating lions into the wild.

They flew to Africa with Christian and stayed for the first several weeks, watching his first encounters with other lions and marveling at how, despite his pampered upbringing in London, he seemed to know instinctively how to act around them, how to hunt and how to survive in the wild.

Ace and John went back to Africa together twice after that, once in 1971 and again in 1972, and John went back one final time in 1973, to check on Christian, and each time he remembered them and greeted them with obvious love and affection. After that, he wandered away from George Adamson's camp and was not seen again - hopefully he went off to establish his own territory somewhere in the wilds of Africa.

This book warmed my heart on so many levels - I completely fell in love with Christian, tales of him playing with them fulfilled my childhood dream of playing with a lion, and it was incredible how accepting everyone in London was to these two men with a lion, including the minister who let them use the church gardens to give Christian regular exercise!

Ace Bourke and John Rendall also won my complete admiration. You can clearly see how much they loved Christian and how much they took care of him and made his life in London wonderful. They never mistreated him in any way and gave him the best life possible. You have to admire their courage and perseverance and how they gave a lion who would have been doomed to a horrible life in a zoo or circus a chance to go back to the wild where he belonged.

This book also rekindled my love of lions and sparked anew my interest in conservation and wild life protection. Christian was an amazing lion and I will read this book many more times. There are also many photographs of Christian, ranging from the adorable to the majestic. This book is a delight and I am so happy I took a chance and read it. 4/5 stars. Recommended to cat lovers everywhere. ( )

The authors describe how they bought a lion cub in a department store in London in 1969, were raising him for a year and then took him to Kenya where George Adamson rehabilitated him to the wild. It’s a warm, entertaining and very well-written book that any animal lover would enjoy, although not having read the original 1971 edition of this book, I cannot say how they compare or how much original material is in this one.

The greater part of the book describes Christian in London in arresting detail. The authors found him very affectionate (he liked to jump from the floor into their arms and generally sit close to them) and were surprised that he wasn’t at all possessive about his food (they write that they could even take it from his mouth if necessary). He was obviously very playful, but quickly learned to be careful with people.

The latter part of the book describes Christian’s sojourn in Adamson’s camp. Since the authors only stayed there for several weeks, there are no descriptions of rehabilitation to the wild per se (for instance, it’s not mentioned if Christian needed to be taught to hunt like Elsa was), but we learn a lot about Christian’s interactions with other captive lions from whom Adamson tried to create a pride and the wild lions in the area. Not surprisingly, they weren’t willing to give up part of their territory for the newcomers (would people?) and although Christian amazingly proved able to stand up to them and survive without major injuries even after his would-be pride-mates either died or, in case of some females, got absorbed into the existing prides, he couldn’t establish a territory there and later migrated “in the direction of the Meru National Park, a much more attractive area and a good hunting ground,” never to be seen again. The authors write: “We liked to imagine that he had established a territory and pride of his own, too far away to return and visit George.” Personally, I didn’t feel as optimistic when reading this book. Just because he went in the direction of the park, doesn’t mean he got there, and even if he did, a good hunting area would mean more lions and smaller territories, so they’d be even more able to defend their ground. Christian grew up to be a very large lion, but prides usually have two mature males defending them, and I’m not sure one, even large lion could defeat two and then defend the acquired territory successfully. Male cubs routinely disperse, driven out by their fathers when they grow up (which is nature’s way of preventing interbreeding), but usually they seem to do this with a pride-mate or two and the mortality rate for them during this time is high. On the other hand, in nature, male lions are much younger when they disperse than Christian was in 1972 and certainly nowhere as large, so, perhaps, there’s hope. Unfortunately, no prognosis from Adamson or someone with similar knowledge of lions and the area is included. Perhaps, if a specialist reads this book today, he/she would comment… But regardless, I found this book was very enjoyable and informative and certainly worth reading and very likely rereading. ( )

The back story for the viral youtube video. Not great literature, but a moving story that moved quickly. ( )

This is a great book showing the emotional bond between humans and animals. The book describes the relationship of two lion owners in England, their journey to Africa, and a bittersweet reunion.
Sure, they could have gone into more details about the everyday duties of raising a lion cub and the rehabilitation of the lion into the wild, but I found the book interesting and loved the pictures!

Not quite what I was expecting. This book was originally published in 1971, which I didn't discover until after I started listening to it. This tells the tale leading up to the infamous YouTube video of a lion embracing the men who raised him when they are reunited in Africa. I had thought this reunion came after quite some time, since the video just surfaced. I was quite disappointed to discover that Ace and John had gone to see Christian only a year after leaving him in Africa. For a true story, there is a surprising lack of details. We learn that Christian was bought by the two men in Harrod's and they raised him in a store basement in London. But not a whole lot is really said about the complexity of raising a lion - they mainly focus on the novelty and other people's reactions to him in the store. I was also quite disappointed to not learn more about what happened in Christian's life after he was released in Africa. Granted, he is now a wild lion and might prove difficult to track but it really makes the story feel empty to not know he flourished in the wild. Interesting but disappointing ( )