Customer Reviews

The Man-Eaters Of Tsavo: And Other East African Adventures

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What a thrilling story of bravery and dedication!
You may know of the ghastly Burma road building, the bridge over the River Kwai, and all the other twentieth century civil engineering works done under appalling conditions. This tale of "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo" is the daddy of them all, written in the Victorian era over one hundred years ago. But it is still unsurpassed as an example of supreme courage, fortitude and sheer doggedness - the building of the East African railway - from Nowhere to absolutely Nowhere or the Lunatic Line so-called in Britain. It was scheduled to run Mombasa-Victoria-Uganda, in a desperate effort to stamp out slavery by separating the two halfes of the country, and as a barrier against feared German imperialism.
The British Foreign Office sent out engineers, but the labour force was mainly Indians - 35 thousand arrived, out of which remained only one thousand workers hale and hearty to the end. The two Tsavo lions alone devoured some 100 men! The fever-ridden jungle or desert heat caused an unbearably tense situation, with the Indians trying to creep up on the Officers to kill them before they themselves were killed one way or another, and Colonel Patterson trying to kill the dangerous wild beasts. In spite of what must have been terrifying disasters, 580 miles of rails, including the Tsavo Bridge section, were completed. Such the Puplisher cited had no other choice.
What for me, who has seen the Tsavo Bridge and a lot of the descendants of the Tsavo-lions, was mostly astonishing when reading the dramatic account of Patterson, who succeeded in shooting the man-eaters, was the sober-mindedness and containment the author displays when relating this all. Some kind of Victorian aloofness. Very well-doing in comparison with the accounts of adventurers of these days and their craving for attention. The events relate the story alone. There is no need to exaggerate anything. No demand to stress. Instead constant under-estatement, no pause, no still-stand to take a sigh of relief or come to contemplation, no insight in the feelings of the haunted, although Paterson says: "It is with a feeling of the greatest diffidence that I place the following pages before the public..." he gives the clue that there were not so much imminent feelings at all even to publish the pages, because he continues: "...but those of my friends who happen to have heard of my rather unique experiences in the wilds have so often urged me to write an account of my adventures, that after much hesitation I at last determined to do so." Thanks to his friends we received this work! He admits:
"I have toned down the facts rather than otherwise, and have endeavoured to write a perfectly plain and straightforward account of things as they actually happened!" and this in deed he did!
If you want to read a hair-raising wildlife hunting account, read this.

By the way the Hollywood movie with Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer is really watchable, but just a weak shadow of what really happened.

I would recommend anyone who has seen the movie based on this book, "The Ghosts in the Darkness" read the actual account. Hollywood being Hollywood, did a pretty good job telling the story but several parts of the movie were manufactured/fictionalized (probably to draw more movie customers). The true account is fascinating enough, the author does a good job of relaying actual events. The author doesn't write like John Grisham or other contemporary authors, he was an Engineer and basically relayed the story/events without a lot of superfluous imagery and storytelling. Now, for the however. After the actual events of hunting and killing the man-eating lions, I recommend to put the book down, don't read the rest of the hunting stories. I read the whole book and found the other chapters not devoted to the man-eating lions very disturbing. The author describes various hunts, including several for lions that I wish I had not read about. Reason being, it wreaked of "trophy hunting" mentality at it's worst. Keep in mind the story ocurred at the end of the 1800's, very early 1900's and the book probably accurately portrayed the hunting mentality of that era which, fast-forward to today's sentiments, would be viewed as shameful. It left me with the question of how many lions/big game animals does one need to kill????? It also provided insight (unintentionally) as to why many big game animals are either endangered or about to be. If you are an animal rights or protectionist individual, do yourself a favor and put the book down after reading about the man-eaters as I mentioned earlier. Reading the entire book will only serve to depress you. That being said, the story about the man-eaters was a very good story and true, a fascinating account indeed which I would highly recommend.

I bought this book after seeing it was the basis for the film Ghost in the Darkness. It's not the exciting page-turner that I hoped for, but it's an interesting book. Since it's autobiographical, it's interesting to read the story behind the understandably sensationalized, good film, and to learn the more factual account of the events.

The book is a great easy read about Victorian expansion of Africa and his various adventures. The book's quality is junk, do not buy this book. Spend a little more and get one that is put together correctly. The paragraphs and chapter titles are all mixed up. Unfortunately it costs more to return from Alaska than just deal with. Buyer beware. Spend a little more and get a version that isn't junk, because it is an entertaining read.
If you really want a good read get WDM Bell's Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter. Bell is a much better writer and sportsman than Patterson.

This book is well worth reading if for nothing more than historical reasons. It lacks the drama and suspense of the movie, The Ghost and the Darkness; but you appreciate Patterson the more for it. He vastly understates the effort he went through to track down the animals. The pictures of the lions, I think, are the best parts of the book. In the photos they are absolutely MASSIVE, and appear far larger than they do as pictured in the photos in the Chicago Museum. You definitely would not want to run into them. When you see the photo's in the book, you'll feel like Samuel, the headman in the movie who said, "if you dare lock eyes with them, you will be afraid." Book is highly recommended.

I could not put this book down. The author has an amazing nack of bringing the events to life in such vivid detail that you can see yourself beside him and feel the trill/fear of the events. Cannot recommend this book enough ... you wont be dissapointed!

An amazing book set in the late 1800's in Africa. An amazing story that is fact!

I visited Tsavo this summer and my interest was peaked. The book is very interesting. The movie The Ghost and the Darkness is also about this real event.

I purchased this book after watching the movie "The Ghost and the Darkness". The book was very interesting and the movie included more truths than I had thought. It was well worth the read.