A visually stunning, informative and affectionate portrait of these mesmerising creatures. With dazzling full colour photography, engaging text, and excellent value Chris Weston introduces a creature to which all others bow

It’s not that bears are unpredictable,’ say the experts, ‘it’s just that few people understand them’. Yet brown bears exhibit many characteristics with which we humans can identify: they have an underlying gentleness balanced by the ability, when necessary, turn into mighty warriors.

Brown bears are found throughout the northern part of the northern hemisphere, across Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, Canada and the northern United States, as well as sporadically in parts of southern Europe. But perhaps the best known individuals are the highly skilled salmon-hunters of Alaska, who sit patiently by a waterfall and wait for the fish almost to leap into their mighty paws.

Wildlife photographer Chris Weston has documented their lives, from the moment they emerge from their mother’s den, through the danger-ridden early years when she helps them to avoid predators and teaches them which foods are good to eat and which are better avoided, to adulthood, mating and parenthood. The result is a visually stunning, informative and affectionate portrait of these mesmerising creatures.