A Certain Curve of Horn: The Hundred-Year Quest for the Giant Sable Antelope of Angola

From Library Journal
Walker, a freelance journalist with a passion for Africa, provides a highly readable account of the endangered giant sable antelope. It was first described by Europeans in 1909 and has ever since been hunted for trophy, investigated by biologists, and cherished by Angolans as a symbol of their country and its survival. As with all things ecological, the story of the antelope is deeply entwined with people and politics. Walker creates a detailed portrait all the way from the early colonization of Angola by the Portuguese in the mid-1400s to the building of railroads in the early 1900s, independence of sorts in 1975, the horrific, 25-year-long civil war, and the current struggles of a long-impoverished people. He does an excellent job of weaving the biology and natural history of the antelope with the social and political history of Angola. This is not a simple story for the casual armchair naturalist, but readers interested in the giant sable, Angola, or how politics and conservation mix will find this worthwhile. Recommended for larger public libraries, environmental collections, and Africa/Angola collections.Nancy Moeckel, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The giant sable antelope was the last of Africa's large quadrupeds to be brought to the Western world's notice. This majestic subspecies of the more numerous sable antelope, a magnificent creature with long sweeping horns, is only found in war-torn Angola. The author discovered the giant sable when, in his boyhood, he read about it in a book about African big-game hunting and developed a longing to see the ultimate antelope. His quest starts with a short history of Angola and of the discovery of the giant sable. Its unearthing set off years of pursuit by big-game hunters and other adventurers, and it became clear that the animals needed protection. Walker, a freelance journalist, weaves a surprisingly fascinating story around one animal, involving colonialism, revolution, biology, and politics, both within the scientific process and the government of an unstable nation, resulting in an epic story that is hard to put down. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Bloomberg Personal Finance, December 2002/January 2003
In his examination of [the giant sable], Walker brings together science, politics, and adventure in an engaging, often disquieting narrative.


Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman and The Map that Changed the World
In relating the saga of this animal and the human landscape it inhabits, John Frederick Walker informs, enlightens and entrances.


Tim Flannery
A Certain Curve takes us on a quest for the grandest antelope. . . . At its heart is the quintessential African story.


Wildlife Conservation
It is, in essence, an adventure story, one that embraces many of the themes and conflicts of modern Africa.


Smoke
[Walker] embarks on a fascinating quest for this creature whose very existence has become a symbol of the conservation movement.


Ed Voves, The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Walker writes with insight and compassion….A Certain Curve of Horn underscores the sanctity of all life."


Anthony Day, The Los Angeles Times
"Walker brings to life a time largely past.His tale of troubled Angola and its noble beast is worth a look."


Dan Barber, The Dallas Morning News
"A story of war, politics, conservation and the giant sable’s prospects."


Mark Azzara, The Sunday Republican
"Part Angolan history, part natural science,part analysis of the United States’ sorry role in the conflict, and part adventure tale."


Tarquin Hall, author of To the Elephant Graveyard
"Walker fuses colonial and contemporary history with his own thrilling adventures …to deliver a book that encapsulates like no other."


Book Description
A compelling story of exploration and adventure, politics and war, told through the quest for one of the most purely majestic of Africa's animals, caught amid the upheavals and brutal savagery of Angola's wars The great animals of Africa have long been under siege—once routinely slaughtered as trophies by big-game hunters, their habitats are now slowly being choked off by the relentless encroachment of human development, and increasingly the efforts to preserve them are hostage to the warfare that ravages the continent. In A Certain Curve of Horn, veteran journalist John Frederick Walker tells the story of one of the most revered and endangered of these regal beasts: the giant sable antelope of Angola, a majestic, coal-black quadruped with breathtaking curved horns over five feet long. It is an enthralling and tragic tale of exploration and adventure, politics and war, the brutal realities of life in Africa today and the bitter choices of conflicting conservation strategies. A Certain Curve of Horn traces the sable's emergence as a highly sought-after natural history prize before the First World War, and follows its struggle to survive in a war zone fought over by the troops of a half-dozen nations, and its transformation into a political symbol and conservation icon. As he follows the trail of this mysterious animal, Walker interweaves the stories of the adventurers, scientists, and warriors who have come under the thrall of the beast, and how their actions would shape the course of the history of the giant sable antelope and the history of the war-torn nation that is its home. Culminating with a heart-pounding voyage into the heart of rebel-held Angola in search of the first scientific confirmation of the animal's existence in decades, A Certain Curve of Horn is a thrilling blend of history, natural science, and adventure—and a fascinating look into the world of a magnificent beast that has haunted the imaginations of hunters and naturalists around the globe for generations.


About the Author
John Frederick Walker is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Sports Afield, Forbes, and New York, as well as numerous other magazines. He has been traveling to Africa since 1986.


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Walker, a freelance journalist with a passion for Africa, provides a highly readable account of the endangered giant sable antelope. It was first described by Europeans in 1909 and has ever since been hunted for trophy, investigated by biologists, and cherished by Angolans as a symbol of their country and its survival. As with all things ecological, the story of the antelope is deeply entwined with people and politics. Walker creates a detailed portrait all the way from the early colonization of Angola by the Portuguese in the mid-1400s to the building of railroads in the early 1900s, independence of sorts in 1975, the horrific, 25-year-long civil war, and the current struggles of a long-impoverished people. He does an excellent job of weaving the biology and natural history of the antelope with the social and political history of Angola. This is not a simple story for the casual armchair naturalist, but readers interested in the giant sable, Angola, or how politics and conservation mix will find this worthwhile. Recommended for larger public libraries, environmental collections, and Africa/Angola collections.-Nancy Moeckel, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH


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