Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: A Lion Called Christian

A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall 1971, revised in 2009

If you know anyone who likes to send email forwards, you may have received a touching video recorded in the early 1970s of two long-haired young men being reunited in Africa with a lion they had bought as a cub at Harrod’s in London a couple of years prior. The lion quickly recognizes them and gives them the most affectionate and playful greeting and is obviously overjoyed to see them. Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall were these two young Australians and unbeknownst to them the video “went viral” on the Internet a couple of years ago. A Lion Called Christian is the memoir they wrote about their time with this beautiful creature, re-released after the lion reached international fame in 2008. The book talks about the amazing adventure they had after falling in love with this little cub they saw while sight-seeing in Harrod’s and how they took care of him in London for several months before realizing that Christian was outgrowing his home in a furniture store. By a stroke of luck, they encountered the actors who had performed in the movie Born Free and who were still in touch with conservationists in Africa. With their help, John and Ace took Christian to Kenya and released him into the care of George Adamson, an expert on rehabilitating lions and preparing them for life in the wild. The audio version is beautifully narrated by British actor John Lee, who assumes a slight Australian accent for this recording. It is very entertaining to listen to the wonderful, humorous stories about the lion’s life in London and heartwarming to hear that what seemed to be an ill-advised decision on the part of John and Ace turned out to be the best possible thing that could have happened to the beautiful lion Christian.