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Fireside Adventure
Some of our favorite hunting books on Africa and India.
 "I cannot live without books." When Thomas Jefferson confessed his passion for reading, little could he have imagined that within a dozen years of his passing an outpouring of literature would begin that would catapult the hunter-adventurer to hero status and change the face of literature itself. A hunting story contains all the elements of an epic: travel, discovery, mystery, danger, death, survival and romance. Victorian readers couldn't get enough of it, and accorded hunter-writers such as Samuel Baker near-legendary status.
In time, however, these writers were replaced by other heroes, and the books that had once been so eagerly devoured were relegated to lonely shelves, their authors all but forgotten. Today, thanks to reprints and the easy availability of used books via the Internet, great 19th-century hunting books can captivate the armchair adventurer just as they did in the age of Queen Victoria. The following list of great hunting books is by no means exhaustive, but it includes some of my favorites and reveals the amazingly rapid changes in African hunting over a brief few decades. Read them in the recommended order and you'll discover that the "golden era" of the greatest hunting spanned little more than a lifetime. But what a life it was while it lasted and for those who lived it. Click 'next' to view the books. Photo by Outdoor Life Online Editor AdvertisementRelated PhotosSUBMIT YOUR PHOTOSADVERTISEMENT |
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Photo Gallery Comments (3)
I read "Man-Eaters of Kumaon", (a most excellent of books on hunting tigers and leopards in India,) in the late 50's or early 60's as an elementary student. It stuck with me for many years and several years ago, I found it at either a gun show or a used book store (I go to both frequently) and bought it. I also was able to find "The Temple Tiger" and "Jungle Lore" also by Corbett. I have yet to read anything that he wrote that did not hold my attention until I was done with the book. He is excellent and I whole-heartedly recommend anything he wrote.
Peter Hathaway Capstick also has written "Good Stuff, Maynard" Either of these men are great and I have books by both.
Thank you for the list - been wondering what I've been missing. I recently looked for a hardback copy of Horn of the Hunter - $190! Ouch! Even good soft covers were over $30.
Thank you Outdoor Life. I have not read many of the books listed and will try to run them down. I got a Reader Digest book for Christmas when I was ten that included a Jim Corbett story and I have been hooked ever since. You can return to read his jungle tales many times and they always seem fresh and exciting. He was one courageous gentleman and by no means a character of single dimension. Ironically, this hunter of man eating tigers was recognized for his great contributions in preserving the tigers of India. He was an environmentalist who just happened to be very good with a rifle, Bo, the best and less expensive place to find all of Corbett's books is from his native India. Also, I highly recommend Kenneth Anderson's stories of man eating tigers and leopards. Vedam Books out of New Delhi gave me excellent service on several orders that I have placed. There were no irregularities with billing, the books arrived in new condition.
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I read "Man-Eaters of Kumaon", (a most excellent of books on hunting tigers and leopards in India,) in the late 50's or early 60's as an elementary student. It stuck with me for many years and several years ago, I found it at either a gun show or a used book store (I go to both frequently) and bought it. I also was able to find "The Temple Tiger" and "Jungle Lore" also by Corbett. I have yet to read anything that he wrote that did not hold my attention until I was done with the book. He is excellent and I whole-heartedly recommend anything he wrote.
Peter Hathaway Capstick also has written "Good Stuff, Maynard" Either of these men are great and I have books by both.
Thank you for the list - been wondering what I've been missing. I recently looked for a hardback copy of Horn of the Hunter - $190! Ouch! Even good soft covers were over $30.
Thank you Outdoor Life. I have not read many of the books listed and will try to run them down. I got a Reader Digest book for Christmas when I was ten that included a Jim Corbett story and I have been hooked ever since. You can return to read his jungle tales many times and they always seem fresh and exciting. He was one courageous gentleman and by no means a character of single dimension. Ironically, this hunter of man eating tigers was recognized for his great contributions in preserving the tigers of India. He was an environmentalist who just happened to be very good with a rifle, Bo, the best and less expensive place to find all of Corbett's books is from his native India. Also, I highly recommend Kenneth Anderson's stories of man eating tigers and leopards. Vedam Books out of New Delhi gave me excellent service on several orders that I have placed. There were no irregularities with billing, the books arrived in new condition.
Post a Comment (200 characters or less)