A “gripping and suspenseful account” of a baffling killing spree in eighteenth-century France and the fear surrounding the mysterious “Beast of Gévaudan” (Publishers Weekly). Something unimaginable occurred from 1764 to 1767 in the Gévaudan region of south central France. Over the course of three years, in the remote highland, over a hundred people, mostly women and children, were murdered. Appalled reports of the events—considered to be one of the world’s first “media sensations”—suggested that a real-life monster was on the loose. As panic spread, alarmed rural communities were virtually held hostage by the unseen marauder. Louis XV even deployed dragoons and crack wolf hunters from far-off Normandy and the King’s own court to destroy the menace. Despite extensive historical documentation, no one could agree on the origin of the terror. A feral serial killer? A werewolf? An unknown animal species? Or, as was proposed by the local bishop, a scourge of God? To this day, debates on the true nature of La Bête continue. With historical illustrations, composite sketches by the author, on-the-scene modern-day photographs, and autopsy analysis, Beast takes a fascinating look at all the evidence, using a mix of history and modern biology to advance a theory that could solve one of the most bizarre and unexplained killing sprees of all time: France’s infamous Beast of the Gévaudan—a tale that still captures the imagination and has found its way into modern culture through films like The Wolfman, novels like Patricia Brigg’s Hunting Ground, and a History Channel documentary.
