The Beast of Gevaudan: La Bete Du Gevaudan

by Pierre Pourcher

La Bte du Gvaudan was a real wolf-like monster living in the Auvergne from 1764 to 1767. She killed about one hundred people. Prowling Catholic pre-Revolutionary France, she spread terror among the aristocrats and peasants of the beautiful Auvergne countryside. Her story beats most mystery novels in false trails, horror and atmosphere. The big difference is La Bte was real, not fiction, and leaves for ever the unanswered question, "What was she?" All efforts to stop her failed and she became infamous throughout France. The king - Louis XV - took a personal interest in her activities and how to destroy her. Many explanations - alien, prehistoric beast, mutant etc. - were put forward at the time and during the two centuries since but none have ever been widely accepted. A mass of evidence remains that La Bte did exist and was not just a legend. Compared with other monster mysteries she is unique, leaving graves, witnessed parish records, and archives of official documents, many of them included in this book, proving her real and guilty beyond doubt. Read Pourcher's book carefully and draw your own conclusions. Even if you arrive at a conventional solution to the mystery, doubts might linger as darkness falls. If twigs crack, don't whistle.

Genres: History, Cryptozoology, Werewolves, Nonfiction

520 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Tekken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Natuke laialivalguv ja mitte nii veenev käsitlus kui Todarol, aga vääris ikkagi lugemist.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of primary sources. The POV of the writer himself is engaging if perhaps unconvincing (a “scourge of god” for replacing the Roman liturgy with the Parisian one? I would hope God would be more merciful for such slights given all the other crap we humans do.) The fact that Pourcher’s family was impacted by the killings directly adds a ring of passion to his subject (and provides a few good anecdotes). Wish there was better labeling of the printed sources— like who sent each letter to whom, which sometimes isn’t obvious— but overall a terrific resource for anyone interested in the actual history of these events.

[ma_mots_et_images · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'abbé Pourcher, plus de 120 ans après les faits, reconstitue, mois après mois, les ravages effectués par celle que nous n'appelons plus que "Bête du Gévaudan" et les efforts effectués par parvenir à sa mort. Il a compilé avec patience, en se plongeant dans les archives, les courriers, articles, actes de décès ponctuant cette période trouble de 1764 à 1767. Sa qualité ecclésiastique l'amène à croire à un Fléau envoyé par Dieu. Toutefois, il note, avec conscience, que les "bêtes" tuées tiennent plus du loup que du diable.
Au lecteur de se faire une idée sur cette énigme encore peu clairement élucidée.

[Marijn De · Rating 3 out of 5]

Defintely not a easy read. But overall very interesting! Great way to enter the "la bête" Rabit hole.

[Rroyce333 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Repetitive at times but a horrific mystery that looms over man kind even today.

[Stephanie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was overall very interesting. I wouldn’t recommend it as a for fun read for most people because it dragged on since it was a collection of primary sources that tended to repeat themselves. The story is intriguing and I loved the chapter with all the suggestions from random people on how to kill the beast. Not an easy read, but an interesting one.