After Big Game in Central Africa (Peter Capstick's Library) [Hardcover]

Edouard Foa (Author), Peter H. Capstick (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Peter Capstick's Library | Publication Date: September 15, 1989

In less than four years Edouard Foa covered 7200 miles, mostly on foot--from the Zambezi delta on Africa's east coast to the mouth of the Congo on the west. He risked every form of tropical disease and death from dangerous game and the unreliability of early guns. Foa succeeded in his efforts to create for the Paris Museum one of the finest collections of African animals and plants in the world. his account is full of hard, almost fatally earned bush knowledge. Frederick lee's able translation boosted this entertaining book to U.S. prominence (and two printings) in 1899.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Morer than vintage armchair adventure, these books are trophy-class reads."--The Houston Post

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; Facsimile Reprint edition (September 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312032749
• ISBN-13: 978-0312032746
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating!, July 7, 2001

By 

"cd3500" (Lawrenceville, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Big Game in Central Africa (Peter Capstick's Library) (Hardcover)

An account of his hunting exploits while leading an expedition sponsored by the French Ministry of Public Instruction, Edouard Foa's "After Big Game in Central Africa" is gem of a book. Foa resists the temptation to give a tedious day-by-day recounting of his travels or to pen a dry chronological sequence of events, noting himself that the moments of interest were interspersed among days and sometimes weeks of boredom and monotony. Rather, Mssr. Foa draws upon his keen skills as an observer and his evident scientific curiosity to create a literary survey of the land -- and time, no less -- in which he traveled. The result is a work that can, admittedly, be confusing for a reader who doesn't have a memory for dates and places as Foa occasionally jumps around in time and space, but which nonetheless excels as a descriptive portrait of Central Africa at the twilight of the 19th century.

Obviously well educated, Foa was not just another hunter but a true explorer who was literally studying his surroundings on his journey as part of his governmental charge. The resulting notes that he kept enabled him to accurately recreate his experiences and observations and sometimes the deep feelings they inspired.

From the opening chapters dealing with guns, equipment, and personnel to the actual recounting of the hunts, Foa establishes an objective to convey to his readers what his methods were and how effective they proved in practice. But more importantly, he imparts his passion for a life in the wilds and for hunting in particular, even with the inconveniences. Always candid and gifted with a sardonic sense of humor (kept wonderfully intact by Frederic Lees's superlative translation), Foa gives a fascinating and captivating account that is at least as entertaining and even more informative than his near-contemporary Col. John Patterson's "The Man-eaters of Tsavo." The great regret is that his other five books -- including "Mes Grands Chasses Dans L'Afrique Centrale", to which he makes frequent reference in this volume -- have apparently never found their way into print in the English language.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Little Slow in Places, but Great Pictures!, August 24, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Big Game in Central Africa (Peter Capstick's Library) (Hardcover)

The book can give a good idea of the life experiences of a big game hunter in Africa but is slow going in places. The book does have a wide variety of excellent photos that depict Edward Foa's various trophies etc. A good airplane book...you might only finish it if you have nothing else to distract you. Not the best of the Capstick series.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing alternative to English African hunters, January 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: After Big Game in Central Africa (Peter Capstick's Library) (Hardcover)

I especially liked Foa's matter-of-fact descriptions of his hunting methods, guns, camp equipment, etc from the 1890's. His approach seems refreshingly straightforward compared to many of the macho English big game hunters of the 20th century (Foa was French). Foa certainly had some mighty adventures at a time when Central African hunting was not a tourist's game, and just as black powder was giving way to smokeless. I couldn't put the book down. I would like to find other of Foa's books translated to English.