Last of his kind.

The name "Lonesome George" is apt, because the Giant Galapagos tortoise that stars in this book is almost certainly the last of his kind from Pinta Island. He ambled into history in 1971 when a biologist came upon him shuffling along. No one had told him that his species had been extinct since 1906.

Henry Nicholls' Lonesome George: The Life and Loves of a Conservation Icon (Macmillan, $24.95) is rather strangely titled, since despite biologists' best efforts, George (whose age is a subject of some debate) never really had any "love" in his life. He turns away female turtles from closely related species. And thus his tribe is likely to pass into history with him. Nicholls makes this as poignant as the material demands. But because George is a bit limited as a protagonist, the author roams far and wide in discussing turtle biology and Darwin's voyages. Consider this: sailors of yore would stow turtles (on their backs) in the hold. During battles at sea, they'd toss the turtles overboard to make their ships faster. And that could explain how turtles from one island ended up living on another.