The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling

HarperCollins is proud to present a range of best-loved, essential classics.'There is no harm in a man's cub.'Best known for the 'Mowgli' stories, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book expertly interweaves myth, morals, adventure and powerful story-telling. Set in Central India, Mowgli is raised by a pack of wolves. Along the way he encounters memorable characters such as the foreboding tiger Shere Kahn, Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear. Including other stories such as that of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a heroic mongoose and Toomai, a young elephant handler, Kipling's fables remain as popular today as they ever were.

The Jungle Book

Copyright (#ulink_4c07e23f-5a72-5de6-ba43-d11954fd554d)

Collins Classics

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Rudyard Kipling asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Jacket image © Shutterstock

Life & Times section © Gerard Cheshire

Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from

Collins English Dictionary

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780007350858

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2010 ISBN: 9780007382507

Version: 2016-04-18

Contents

Cover Page (#u9e0e32ce-8c37-59c7-8b6c-b7953a8b05db)

Title Page (#u2c59af67-28bb-5e5e-b5d5-3bee7f7f9dc4)

Copyright (#ube5adc93-42c6-5e69-a52b-ca930ccd9a4a)

History of Collins (#u8dbb2c3d-f7db-5f0b-95c4-49c5762b12b4)

Life & Times (#u6b1bf391-b81d-5683-a1c0-87e938443dcd)

Preface (#uecc44bff-82ba-5956-bad3-cf56981800a0)

Mowgli’s Brothers (#ucd5b9386-f624-5ce5-a963-967c565ceea8)

Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack (#u762ef123-31c2-5941-8674-bab0d678cd9e)

Kaa’s Hunting (#u2cd0bf33-bddf-5d04-a108-e6ca1f2d1691)

Road-Song of the Bandar-Log (#litres_trial_promo)

‘Tiger! Tiger!’ (#litres_trial_promo)

Mowgli’s Song (#litres_trial_promo)

The White Seal (#litres_trial_promo)

Lukannon (#litres_trial_promo)

‘Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’ (#litres_trial_promo)

Darzee’s Chaunt (#litres_trial_promo)

Toomai of the Elephants (#litres_trial_promo)

Shiv and the Grasshopper (#litres_trial_promo)

Her Majesty’s Servants (#litres_trial_promo)

Parade-Song of the Camp-Animals (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

Classic Literature: Words and Phrases (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

History of Collins (#ulink_824173f3-4a15-585c-9a55-7d83fbc2263a)

In 1819, Millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollinsPublishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William published in 1824, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.

Soon after, William published the first Collins novel, Ready Reckoner, however it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.

Aged 30, William’s son, William II took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly ‘Victorian’ in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and Pilgrim’s Progress, making them available to the masses for the first time. A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopaedias and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.

In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of ‘books for the millions’ was developed. Affordable editions of classical literature were published and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.

HarperCollins is and has always been a champion of the classics and the current Collins Classics series follows in this tradition – publishing classical literature that is affordable and available to all. Beautifully packaged, highly collectible and intended to be reread and enjoyed at every opportunity.