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Big Cat Diary is a television phenomenon. From its inception in 1996 it grew steadily in popularity, until it attracted audiences of up to seven million. In autumn 2008, in the BBC Natural History Unit's most ambitious outside broadcast ever, it went live for the first time and recorded two million visitors to its website in the course of transmission.

Jonathan Scott has been one of BCD's presenters from the beginning and is uniquely placed to narrate the story of the series and its stars. With their intimate knowledge of the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya, where BCD is filmed, he and his photographer wife Angela have built up an unrivalled portfolio of insights and images of the big cats and their beautiful habitat. For Stars of Big Cat Diary they have included contributions from fellow presenters Simon King and Saba Douglas-Hamilton and from members of the production team to reveal how the programme is put together and how things don't always go according to plan.

These stories are interwoven with tales of the real stars of BCD - the cats themselves. Who could forget Half-Tail the leopard and her daughter Shadow, the leading ladies of the first series? Then there was Solo, the lion cub who had a tough time competing with his much older brothers and sisters for food but who somehow survived to adulthood; and Kike, the car-climbing cheetah who used Jonathan's vehicle as both an aerial look-out and a toilet stop. Characters such as these have kept audiences on the edge of their seats for the past 12 years: this book is your chance to experience their stories from an entirely new perspective. Stars of Big Cat Diary is a stunningly illustrated, behind-the-scenes story that will fascinate anyone who has ever lost their heart to one of these charismatic creatures.