Born Free: A LIONESS OF TWO WORLDS (Paperback)

by Joy Adamson (Author) "FOR many years my home has been in the Northern Frontier Province of Kenya, that vast stretch of semiarid thornbush, covering some hundred and twenty..." (more)
Key Phrases: wild lioness, rubbing her head, thorn fence, Land Rover, Lake Rudolf, Game Scouts (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
First published in 1960 and closely followed by a hit movie of the same name, Joy Adamson's now classic memoir Born Free continues to introduce countless young people to the wildlife of Africa. Adamson recounts her adventures as the surrogate mother of an orphaned lion cub named Elsa (with parenting duties shared by her husband George and by a delightfully imperturbable rock hyrax named Pati), whom she raised as a welcome member of her human and animal family while painstakingly teaching Elsa the skills she would need to survive in the wild. Her teaching, against all odds, was effective: three years later, the Adamsons took Elsa to a place near that of her birth and set her loose, hoping that she would find her "real pride" among other lions of the Kenya grasslands--as she soon did.

Long targeted to preteen readers, Born Free is in fact a sophisticated work of environmental consciousness-raising, for Joy Adamson believed that any relationship between humans and wild animals had to be conditioned by an attitude "of absolute equality quite different from that between a dog and his master." Although Elsa's story had an ultimately tragic ending--the young lioness died of disease and, in separate incidents, Joy and George Adamson were both murdered--Joy Adamson's book continues to instruct and entertain readers of all ages. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review
"Moving and incredible...[with] some of the most extraordinary photographs ever seen."

-- New York Times

"Elsa and the Adamsons are ideal figures in a peaceable kingdom."

-- New Yorker

"Reads like a letter from Eden to homesick humanity."

-- New York Herald Tribune

A gifted artist, Joy Adamson was born in Austria and educated in Vienna, where she studied music, sculpture, and painting. At twenty-six, she went to Kenya to visit friends and remained there until her death in 1980. As a well-known painter and photographer, she was commissioned by the government of Kenya to paint portraits of African tribesmen and to photograph the indigenous flora of East Africa, for which she received the Grenfell Gold Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society, now hanging in the Coryndon Museum in Nairobi. In addition to founding the Elsa Wild Animal Appeal, devoted to the preservation of wildlife, she was the author of two other books, Living Free and Forever Free. She was married to George Adamson, the Senior Game Warden of the Northern Frontier Province in Kenya. -- Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1st Pantheon Pbk. Ed edition (May 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039474635X
• ISBN-13: 978-0394746357
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #974,380 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #96 in

  Books > History > Africa > Kenya

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Born Free - Well worth reading!, January 26, 2001

By	Karen Newcombe "Gaming Auntie" (So Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds (Paperback)

When I was a child, Born Free had been recently published and made into a movie. I must have read the book twenty times, and it has had a lifelong impact on me.

Joy Adamson captures not only Elsa's story, but the Adamson's love of Africa, the people,the animals, the land itself. Through Born Free I learned of the complex personalities and emotions that animals have, just as we do. I learned that there are many ways to live your life - a job, a family and a suburb are not the only options.

Through the difficulty the Adamson's had in finding a suitable wild home for Elsa, that I learned that the world is under tremendous pressure from human expansion, and became conscious of our responsiblity to ensure survival for creatures who cannot speak to defend themselves against our incursions.

Born Free is sometimes treated as a children's book - as though that were some reflection of diminished quality. But the ideas and values I absorbed as a girl from Joy and George Adamson, from Elsa and her cubs, were complex and important -- they have been with me my whole life.

And I would bet that dozens of notable careers in wildlife preservation, ecological studies, veterinary medicine and zoology, were inspired by a visit to the movies one afternoon to see the story of Elsa, or by a dogeared library copy of Born Free with it's bright yellow jacket.

This is a wonderful, captivating book, which can be read for simple enjoyment. But I also hope that it touches people as deeply it touched me, and engenders some interest and concern -- if not active help -- for the tremendous difficulties the people and wildlife of Africa are facing today.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful, Moving Story of Elsa, June 27, 2003

By	shoutgrace "savedbyhisgrace" (Charleston, WV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds (Paperback)

My first introduction to the Born Free books when I was a child learning to read in school. And what a great introduction to reading it was. The story of Elsa and the Adamsons who saved her life as a cub along with her sisters and raised her brought me into a world of wanting to be there with all the animals and see Africa. This seemed to be treated more as a children's book in my time than an adult book. The idea of the book was to teach people the importance of environmental conservation awareness. The first book, tells Elsa's early life from a cub raised by Joy and George Adamson and their pet rock hyrax, Pati. Joy is Elsa's surrogate mom and with great pains to teach Elsa the skills to survive in the wild. With lots of work Joy did it with success that Elsa was capable of living in the wild again. They released her near her birthplace and hoping Elsa would find and connect with her pride-in which she did. There is the tragedy not long afterward I had read this amazing story that Elsa had died in the Kenya bush of disease. Something of life that I learned early in my life that it was reality in the wilds of Africa or anywhere for that matter. But the cycle of life lives on in Elsa's pride. Still another grim incident ended the lives of Joy and George Adamson. Both were found murdered.

Joy Adamson has left behind a legacy of these fascinating books that moves us to treat our world with respect and have a better understanding between human-animal relationship. Joy Adamson before her death had also written, 'Living Free: Elsa and her Cubs' and 'Forever Free: Elsa's Pride.' Her family extended even further across the grasslands of Africa as she tells about them in her other books, 'The Spotted Sphinx' (about Pippa the Cheetah), 'Pippa's Challenge,' 'Pippa: The Cheetah and her Cubs,' 'Queen of Shaba: The Story of an African Leopard,' and 'Friends of the Forest.' Joy Adamson's book 'Peoples of Kenya' reflects upon the life of the Kenyan people, her concern for the people welfare there and their struggles to make an existence in a harsh, beautiful land. If you want to know more about Joy Adamson read her autobiography, 'The Searching Spirit.'

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read for all ages!, July 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds (Paperback)

This is a wonderful story that crosses all generations. It is a story of triumph and discovery of a species. I would recommend everyone read all of her animal story books. She has contributed a great deal to knowledge of these animals and conservation of wildlife.