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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the love that haunts you belongs to a world before cities?
Victoria Custer feels out of place in her own time. Bold and restless, she prefers open country to drawing rooms. In The Eternal Savage, Edgar Rice Burroughs gives her a strange bond with a man from the Stone Age—and a longing that reaches far beyond the world she knows.
That man is Nu, an honorable hunter whose strength and speed face constant tests from beasts and rival tribes. Nat-ul, a woman of his own age and tribe, adds tension to his story. Across these distant worlds, Burroughs joins prehistoric danger with a sweeping question: can love survive time itself?
What you’ll discover
- A restless heroine Meet Victoria Custer, whose pull toward an older world makes ordinary life feel too narrow.
- A Stone Age hunter Follow Nu through a world where spear, club, and cunning stand between life and death.
- Danger at every turn Enter a prehistoric landscape of great beasts, sudden ambushes, and desperate chases.
- Love beyond time Explore a romance built around the possibility that love can outlast the ages.
- Adventure before explanation Enjoy a tale that puts action and feeling ahead of detailed scientific explanation.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy jungle adventures, prehistoric beasts, daring rescues and romance across the ages will love this book. It also suits Tarzan fans and anyone drawn to fast storytelling.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Nu hunts to prove his love
- Victory gives way to sudden loss
- Victoria dreams of an unknown man
- A familiar face draws Nu closer
- Recognition leads Victoria into danger
- Nat-ul fights for her own choice
- Every escape brings another danger
- Loyalty reaches beyond reason and time
- The past keeps reaching into love
Who’s who
- Nu, son of NuA young cave man and skilled hunter who kills the saber-toothed tiger Oo and crosses ages and seas to find the woman he loves.
- Nat-ulDaughter of the hunter Tha, brave and quick with a knife, she wants a mate who is greater than other men.
- Victoria CusterA Nebraska girl who hunts big game in Africa and is haunted by dreams of a savage lover and a fear of earthquakes.
- Barney CusterVictoria's loyal brother, who listens to her dreams without scoffing and protects the strange man who has saved her.
- William CurtissA wealthy suitor who follows Victoria to Africa, wants to marry her and distrusts the half-naked stranger.
- TerkozA great wolfhound at the Greystoke ranch who tracks Victoria and chooses his own friends and enemies.
- TurA tall Boat Builder who wants Nat-ul for himself and chases her over land and sea.
- GronTur's jealous, ill-treated mate, who hates him fiercely and saves Nu for her own reasons.
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The Eternal Savage
by Edgar Rice Burroughs · 1915
A Stone Age hunter sleeps for a hundred thousand years, then wakes in Africa and finds the woman of his dreams.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“That was a hundred thousand years ago.”
In short
What if a man fell asleep in the Stone Age and woke a hundred thousand years later, in the middle of Africa, with a spear in his hand and a girl's name on his lips? That is where Edgar Rice Burroughs begins The Eternal Savage, a tale of lost time, a recurring dream and a love that will not stay buried.
The Eternal Savage at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 25 min3 h 30 min fast, 5 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 63,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1915by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A young hunter goes out to kill Oo
The story opens in a prehistoric world called the Niocene. Nu, son of Nu, moves through the jungle with a stone-tipped spear, a hatchet and a knife. He is hunting Oo, the great saber-toothed tiger, because Nat-ul will take no mate who has not killed it.
She loves Nu, but she wants her man to be greater than other men. Nu does not argue. He sets out before the day is old, while the night hunters still prowl.
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Details
- First published
- 1915
- Language
- English
- Level
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Cite this edition
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. The Eternal Savage. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-eternal-savage.
Burroughs, E. R. (2026). The eternal savage. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-eternal-savage (Original work published 1915)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. The Eternal Savage. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-eternal-savage.
@book{burroughs2026eternal,
author = {Burroughs, Edgar Rice},
title = {The Eternal Savage},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-eternal-savage},
note = {First published 1915}
}
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What is The Eternal Savage about?
It follows a Stone Age hunter sealed in a cave who wakes a hundred thousand years later in Africa. A modern woman who has long dreamed of him is hunting nearby, and the story crosses two worlds.
Who are Nu and Nat-ul?
Nu, son of Nu, is a cave man and hunter of the Niocene age, and Nat-ul is the daughter of Tha, the woman he loves. Victoria Custer, a modern American, shares the dream of Nat-ul.
Is The Eternal Savage connected to Tarzan?
Yes, loosely. The modern story unfolds at the African estate of Lord Greystoke, who was once Tarzan and examines the mysterious hunter's tracks. The main story belongs to Nu and Victoria.
The author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
1875–1950 · American adventure novelist
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American writer born in Chicago in 1875. He wrote novels about Tarzan and novels set on Mars. His first Mars story appeared in 1912 and became the book A Princess of Mars in 1917. He later lived in California and died in Encino in 1950.
“That was a hundred thousand years ago.”
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