The Beasts of Tarzan is the third book in the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Bur­roughs, first pub­lished in 1916. In this install­ment, Tarzan, the leg­endary “Lord of the Jun­gle,” embarks on a grip­ping adven­ture that sees him con­fronting both human and ani­mal foes, all while explor­ing deep­er themes of civ­i­liza­tion ver­sus the wild, loy­al­ty, and iden­ti­ty. Fol­low­ing the events of The Return of Tarzan, where Tarzan has set­tled into a life of domes­tic bliss with his wife, Jane, and their son, the plot takes a dra­mat­ic turn when Jane and the child are kid­napped by a vil­lain­ous foe, bring­ing Tarzan once again into a con­flict with the dan­gers of civ­i­liza­tion.

In The Beasts of Tarzan, Tarzan finds him­self stripped of his wealth and posi­tion, and, in an attempt to res­cue his fam­i­ly, he returns to the jun­gles of Africa. This time, how­ev­er, the jun­gle is not just a home for Tarzan, but also a bat­tle­ground where he must rely on his pri­mal skills and the assis­tance of wild ani­mals to sur­vive and exact his revenge. Bur­roughs intro­duces a num­ber of fas­ci­nat­ing ani­mal char­ac­ters in this nov­el, notably Tarzan’s loy­al allies like the mighty bull ape, Akut, and the fero­cious lion, Jad-bal-ja, both of whom play vital roles in Tarzan’s jour­ney.

The book’s themes delve into Tarzan’s strug­gle with his dual iden­ti­ty: as a man raised by apes and as a mem­ber of human soci­ety. The con­trast between the law of the jun­gle and the “civ­i­lized” world he left behind is ever-present, and Tarzan’s con­nec­tion to the wild beasts of the jun­gle becomes a sig­nif­i­cant part of his quest. In addi­tion to the excit­ing phys­i­cal chal­lenges Tarzan faces, there are moments of sus­pense, per­son­al growth, and even reflec­tions on the nature of civ­i­liza­tion and what it means to be tru­ly human.

The Beasts of Tarzan is filled with dar­ing res­cues, treach­er­ous plots, and moments of high adven­ture. While it con­tin­ues the action-packed saga of Tarzan, it also builds on the emo­tion­al depth of the char­ac­ter, high­light­ing his love for his fam­i­ly and his sense of duty. Fans of the Tarzan series will appre­ci­ate this novel’s live­ly action, mem­o­rable ani­mal com­pan­ions, and explo­ration of deep­er exis­ten­tial themes, mak­ing it anoth­er thrilling chap­ter in one of the most icon­ic adven­ture tales in lit­er­ary his­to­ry.