The Beasts of Tarzan

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Jan 2009 · The Floating Press

About this ebook

The Return of Tarzan is Edgar Rice Burroughs' third novel in the series starring the man raised by apes. First serialized in 1914 in All-Story Cavalier magazine, it was published as a novel in 1916. After marrying Jane at the end of The Return of Tarzan, and claiming his birthright as Lord of Greystoke, our former ape-man finds his infant son has been kidnapped in London by old enemies. Following an anonymous call, Tarzan falls into his enemies' trap and finds himself once more exiled in the wild, this time with the threat hanging over him that his young son will be raised by cannibals.

About the author

Edgar Rice Burroughs was born on September 1, 1875, in Chicago. His father, George Tyler was a distiller and a battery manufacturer. Early in life Burroughs attempted to support his family in a variety of occupations, including railroad policeman, business partner, and miner. None of these proved successful. However, Burroughs had always enjoyed reading adventure fiction and decided to try his hand at writing. His first attempt, written under the pseudonym Normal Bean, sold very quickly and Burroughs' career took off. Although critics and educators have not always been supportive of Burroughs' writing, the characters in his stories have entertained readers for many years. Tarzan was the most popular, earning Burroughs enough money to start his own publishing house and a motion picture company. Another character, John Carter, is the hero of Burroughs' Mars adventure series. The continuing popularity of these characters has led some critics to reconsider the value of Burroughs' writing and to acknowledge significant themes in his stories. Burroughs died on March 19, 1950.