The African Adventurers : A Return to the Silent Places
- Book Review,
by Peter H. Capstick
From Library Journal
In addition to producing videos on African hunting, writing books about African hunting and hunters (most recently his Sand of Silence: On Safari in Namibia, LJ 9/15/91), and editing reprints of classic African accounts of hunters and explorers, Capstick himself is an experienced hunter and student of African history and lore. All of these talents come to bear in these biographies of four white hunters famous for their exploits in the African interior early this century: Frederick Selous, naturalist, soldier, and elephant hunter; C.J.P. Ionides, game ranger and hunter of man-eating lions and deadly snakes; John Boyes, who became a "King" of the Kikuyus; and James Sutherland, skilled tracker and ivory hunter. Capstick uses the hunters' own writings while adding his color, commentary, and humor plus filling in details from other sources, vividly bringing to life an era and characters unlikely to return. For YA and adult collections at public libraries.-Roland Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., CarbondaleCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Veteran hunter-writer Capstick (Sands of Silence, 1991, etc.) offers what he calls ``escape reading'' as he tells--in his typical men-will-be-boys way--the stories of four hunters. As much buccaneers of the bush as great white hunters, the four men Capstick celebrates were in their time as famous as our less-energetic media personalities are today. All wrote well- received books, which have joined the hunting and African pantheon; financed their hunting by trading in ivory, snakes, or local foodstuffs; and survived as many close encounters with death as the proverbial cat. First-up and best-known is Frederick Courteney Selous, who in 1871 left Britain for southern Africa, where he hunted lions, elephants, and other big game; fought in all the local wars; and led the first pioneer column into Rhodesia. Selous also traveled in the Rockies, hunted in the Yukon, and dined at the White House as guest of his friend Teddy Roosevelt. A talented naturalist who gave his specimens to the British Museum, he was the quintessential patriot, enlisting in WW I at the age of 63 and dying as he fought in what was then German East Africa. The second hunter, C.J.P. Ionides, also English, was a great hunter of elephants, as well as an esteemed herpetologist who collected thousands of Africa's most deadly snakes for research, conservation, and venom-extraction. Capstick's third choice, Tiny John Boyes, ventured alone into the heart of black Africa, hunting elephants, establishing close ties with local tribesmen, and transporting horses and camels from Nairobi across the desert to what was then Abyssinia. Finally, there's Captain James H. Sutherland, author of the seminal Adventures of an Elephant Hunter, who hunted extensively in central Africa, as well as in Portuguese and German East Africa. Lots of hunting lore and lingo for the fans and, as promised, an escape to a time more brutal and dangerous than our own but perhaps also more challenging. Vintage Capstick. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"If high adventure teetering on the edge of abject terror...is your bag, then Capstick is your man. Nobody does it better!"--Denver Post
"Downright delightful...on the bedrock levels of African natural history, tribal sociology, and appropriate sporting weapons, Capstick is dead accurate."--Robert F. Jones, Sports Illustrated
"[Capstick] keeps the tradition of great safari adventure alive in each of his books."--African Expedition Gazette
Review
"If high adventure teetering on the edge of abject terror...is your bag, then Capstick is your man. Nobody does it better!"--Denver Post
"Downright delightful...on the bedrock levels of African natural history, tribal sociology, and appropriate sporting weapons, Capstick is dead accurate."--Robert F. Jones, Sports Illustrated
"[Capstick] keeps the tradition of great safari adventure alive in each of his books."--African Expedition Gazette
Review
"If high adventure teetering on the edge of abject terror...is your bag, then Capstick is your man. Nobody does it better!"--Denver Post
"Downright delightful...on the bedrock levels of African natural history, tribal sociology, and appropriate sporting weapons, Capstick is dead accurate."--Robert F. Jones, Sports Illustrated
"[Capstick] keeps the tradition of great safari adventure alive in each of his books."--African Expedition Gazette
Book Description
Peter Capstick has been hailed as the adventure-writing successor to Hemingway and Ruark. Only Capstick "can write action as cleanly and suspensefully as the best of his predecessors" (Sports Illustrated). This long-awaited sequel to Death in the Silent Places (1981) brings to life four turn-of-the-century adventurers and the savage frontiers they braved.
* Frederick Selous, a British hunter, naturalist, and soldier, rewrote the history books with his fearless treks deep into the Dark Continent.
* English game ranger Constantine "Iodine" Ionides saved Tanganyikan villages from man-eating lions and leopards. He also gained lasting fame for his uncanny ability to capture black mambas, cobras, Gaboon vipers, and other deadly snakes.
* The dashing Brit Johnny Boyes who gained the chieftainship of the Kikuyu tribe with sheer bravado and survived the ferocious battles and ambushes of intertribal warfare.
* And Scottish ex-boxer, Jim Sutherland, one of the best ivory hunters who ever lived. His tracking skills and stamina afoot became the stuff of African hunting legend.
If you are a Capstick fan, you'll relish The African Adventurers, his eleventh book. Once again he delivers "the kind of chilling stories that Hemingway only heard second-hand...with a flair and style that Papa himself would admire" (Guns and Ammo). The author's pungent wit and his authenticity gained from years in the bush make this quartet of vintage heroics an unforgettable return to the silent places.
About the Author
After leaving Wall Street, Peter Hathaway Capstick hunted in Central and South America before going to Africa, where he held professional hunting licenses in Ethiopia, Zambia, Botswana, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He has long made his home in Africa, the source of his inspiration.
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