Description
I’ve read a number of African hunting and adventure classics including titles by F.C. Selous, Carl Akley and others. Alexander Lake was a comparative late-comer to Africa (early 20th century) but his respect and love for the people and wildlife he writes about are evident. His writing style is authentic, without varnish or too much introspection. The sense you get from this book is that Lake was a man of action who started out as a pragmatist wanting to make some money out of his adventure, but ended up being fundamentally and unexpectedly changed by Africa. The book is filled with fascinating anecdotes of a wild African world which no longer exists. Those of you who enjoyed Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa will find this book equally authentic and personal but less sophisticated in tone. This is a great read that will leave you with a vivd sense of place and time, and a feeling for what Alexander Lake and the Africa of his day were like. If you are an African hunting/adventure buff, you will enjoy this read a great deal.
