As WWI breaks out in Africa, the ape man must avenge a brutal attack on his home, in this 1920 adventure novel from the original Tarzan series. The violence of World War I has spread into colonial Africa, and while Lord Greystoke—better known as Tarzan—is away from his estate, it is destroyed by German soldiers. When he returns to the burned remains of his home, Tarzan discovers what appears to be the body of his wife, Jane. Brokenhearted and mad with rage, he heads to the battlefront to seek his revenge wreaking havoc on the Imperial German Army. With a ferocious lion at his command, Tarzan’s vengeance is soon complete. But even as he swears off civilization and returns to the Mangani apes of his youth, he finds himself embroiled in the fate of a mysterious woman taken prisoner by a band of deserters. Choosing once again to help those in need, Tarzan will learn his adventures have only just begun—because Jane may still be alive.

バローズが描く真髄は、大戦という文明の狂気が自然を侵食する中で露わになる、ターザンの剥き出しの怒りにあります。妻の死を契機に復讐の鬼と化す姿は、貴族の仮面を脱ぎ捨てた野生の叫びそのもの。個の喪失と文明への断絶を問う重厚なテーマは、シリーズ随一の文学的深度を誇ります。 映像版ではアクションが際立ちますが、原作には内面に渦巻く情念が濃密に綴られています。活字による心理描写と映像の肉体的躍動。この双方が交差することで、絶望から再生へ向かう英雄の、多層的な人間像が鮮烈に浮かび上がるのです。