Good evening all, I am reading “White Hunters : The golden age of African safaris”
It is a great first introduction to hunting Africa, what others do you recommend?
Best,
Red
Hello, I also loved White Hunters and learned so much from it. Even though some people say that Peter Capstick embellished a lot, I still loved his book Death in the Long Grass. I also loved Ruark's Horn of the Hunter. Here are a few other ones that aren't necessarily all hunting but they offer a much better understanding of Africa.
Out of Africa. by Karen Blixen (The book is better than the movie which makes it seem just like a love story. It is so much more. You will meet many of the white hunters of the day while learning a lot about the native people and Africa at the time.)
West with the Night by Beryl Markham. I loved this book. Here is the review that I just did for it:
"Beryl was an extraordinary woman who went on to become Africa’s first female professional pilot, the first woman in Africa to get her racehorse trainer’s license, and the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west. But, in my opinion, what makes the book so special is her love of the African continent and its people, her adventurous spirit, and the way she portrays all of this in words.
Hunters, there is much in this for you, too. Beryl learned to spear hunt with the Moroni tribe. Her hunting tales — as a child and an adult — will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. Aside from being close friends with the Murani people, she was close friends with some of Africa’s great white hunters (Denys Finch Hatton, Bror von Blixen). She often flew them to their hunting destinations and participated in hunts.
Here is what Hemingway had to say about West with the Night:
“She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But this girl, who is to my knowledge very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade bitch, can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers … it really is a bloody wonderful book.”
Also, if you want more a more contemporary read, Bringing by the Lions by Mike Arnold is good to learn about hunting and conservation.
Also, if for a fun entertaining one, read Kevin Robertson's "It Shouldn't Happen." He is also the author of The Perfect Shot ....which pretty much every African hunter owns.
His wife also wrote a good one called "My African Sunrise" if you want to learn more about their life in Zimbabwe and the bush wars with lots of fun and amazing stories to go along with the sad.
Anyway, happy reading! Sue
