Customer Reviews

African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Naturalist

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First, one must remember that Theodore himself wrote this book. It isn't someone's interpretation. It is well written and interesting on one level. It is a book that shows contradictions which will puzzle you and might lessen your opinion of this person. Theodore Roosevelt is thought of as a man and President who had great land conservation foresight. Yet, this book portrays an attitude toward land use and natural resources that goes against everything you might admire this man for. I am a hunter, but the book offends. One has to remember the times when Mr. Roosevelt talks about shooting lots of animals, wounding many without any follow-up and shooting some just because they exist. He just did what many hunters of the times did. But Teddy was a slob hunter, blasting away at shadows. The view that everything must make way for man's use is disturbing and you wonder if this is the same person that preserved certain American lands from development in perpituity. The book is also disturbing when this nation's President talks about how the world needs to be run by white people for white people. His story portrays a view that African people were less important or human than his pack animals - the animals were watered after a long day of packing. The African porters weren't. To make matters worse, he lumps American Indians with the Africans and all other less "civilized", people of color into a group that needs white guidance and guidelines for living. It's incredible.