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Bwana Game
A fascinating book by a man who knows more about lions than anybody else." Hammond Innes "Vivid and splendid. George Adamson and his seven lions live in a wild region of the Meru Game Reserve. It is a unique set-up, the lions are tame and extraordinarily affectionate towards him, wandering freely into his tent and often sleeping on his bed, yet nevertheless living the life of a truly wild pride, killing their own game, fighting off leonine intruders, and even mating in his presence." The Times"George Adamson is an unforgettable character. He has lived the sort of life that many dream about, but realise in their more sober moments that they would have neither the courage nor the endurance to do likewise." Scotsman
Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1968
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About the author
George Adamson
3 books11 followersGeorge Adamson, known as Baba ya Simba, was a British wildlife conservationist and author based in Kenya. He gained international recognition for raising Elsa the lioness, later released into the wild, inspiring the best-selling book Born Free and its 1966 film adaptation. Born in India in 1906, Adamson moved to Kenya in 1924 and worked in various roles before joining the wildlife department as a game warden in 1938. He retired in 1961 and devoted his life to rehabilitating orphaned lions. Adamson was tragically murdered in 1989 while protecting others in Kora National Park.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 29, 2025
Alas, there is an alternate listing for this book, perhaps for the American paperback edition, published 4 years after the one I have & which Collins & Harvill published in London in 1968.
I am sticking with my version because when I visited George Adamson, he always wore the hat on the dust jacket photo for my original, U.K. version + George autographed my copy in October 1968 in his tent at the Meru (Kenya) Game Park near my home at the time. That said, I am not sure how to link this version to the newer paperback one that shows 22 ratings & 5 reviews but which is not linked to my original edition.
Adamson was an amazingly adventurous & intrepid fellow, who lived a wonderfully rich life in Kenya, East Africa & would have been out of place almost anywhere else. I think that Bwana Game captures the spirit of the man who lived & ultimately died, murdered by Shifta (Somali insurgents) in this part of the world.
I don't wish to ignore this book, parts of which I've just reread in order to refresh my memory but George Adamson was at the time when I first met him, living the life of a settler-rustic, in a tent & sleeping on a cot, with the adjacent cot used by one of the offspring of the lions that brought fame to George & Joy Adamson via the film version of Born Free.
George & his 2nd wife Joy at that point were no longer good company for each other and the lions were filling a void in his life, while Joy worked with cheetah & lived in a another part of the Meru Game Park. The park at that point was in disrepair, closed to the public because of the considerable fear of Shifta or Somali terrorists who occasionally made incursions into this part of Kenya.
Of course, being young & somewhat less than adequately fearful of the local warnings, a friend & myself would borrow a rattly antique Landrover from a mission station run by the Italian Consolata Fathers, stopping at the local Indian (Hindu) store in Meru to buy a bottle of White Horse scotch and we then had full admission to George's world for the weekend. Bringing some Three Nuns or other pipe tobacco also helped to seal the deal.
What I remember most is that George always seemed more interested in hearing about life in America and discussing the raging war in Vietnam than in recounting his life in Kenya as a settler & game warden, his anti-poaching efforts & his activities during WWII.
He did in one long & rambling story talk about driving in the 1930s from Kenya across the continent to what was then colonial British & French West Africa, just living off the land, encountering all manner of animals & countless different African tribes who had very little or no previous experience with people other than those of their own tribe.
This was a safari or travel adventure at a very elemental level in terms of equipment or paved roads & without a safety net of any sort but somehow luck was with him all the way to Senegal. This was George's ideal world, simply following the stars into the (mostly) unknown & taking stock of what he experienced along the way!
Bwana Game details Adamson's early life in British East Africa, as well as the post-colonial period where many adaptations had to be made but because of George's work as a game warden and the later publicity that came with the publication of Born Free & the other books + the eventual film & television series, George & Joy Adamson became Kenyan commodities of a sort, when in fact both wanted more than anything to be left alone.
Embedded in the book is George's explanation of the entry of Joy into his life, a presence he initially attempted to avoid but which in time became inevitable. Joy was an avid painter and did wonderful portraits of the various tribes in Kenya before distinctive tribal garb began to disappear in favor of more Western clothing and her book, The Peoples of Kenya (also published by Collins & Harvill in the UK) is very much worth having if interested in the culture of Kenya and able to locate a copy.
George had a very wry sense of humor & in illustrating his hatred of administrative details, he mentions a District Commissioner in Kenya who likewise tried at all costs to ignore the more menial functions of his job by creating 4 rubber stamps to deal with those petitioning his intervention for various problems, none of which would involve his assistance:
Among the many evocative photos in my edition of the book is one of Adamson, smoking his pipe and clad in shorts & his bush jacket nursing a young lion cub with an erstwhile Tusker beer bottle, though one presumes it contained milk at that point. Witnessing the bond of trust & affection between Adamson & the lions was most extraordinary.
I don't think that one needs to have set foot in Africa to take this story to heart or to savor the other facets of the life of George Adamson in Bwana Game.
I am sticking with my version because when I visited George Adamson, he always wore the hat on the dust jacket photo for my original, U.K. version + George autographed my copy in October 1968 in his tent at the Meru (Kenya) Game Park near my home at the time. That said, I am not sure how to link this version to the newer paperback one that shows 22 ratings & 5 reviews but which is not linked to my original edition.
Adamson was an amazingly adventurous & intrepid fellow, who lived a wonderfully rich life in Kenya, East Africa & would have been out of place almost anywhere else. I think that Bwana Game captures the spirit of the man who lived & ultimately died, murdered by Shifta (Somali insurgents) in this part of the world.
I don't wish to ignore this book, parts of which I've just reread in order to refresh my memory but George Adamson was at the time when I first met him, living the life of a settler-rustic, in a tent & sleeping on a cot, with the adjacent cot used by one of the offspring of the lions that brought fame to George & Joy Adamson via the film version of Born Free.
George & his 2nd wife Joy at that point were no longer good company for each other and the lions were filling a void in his life, while Joy worked with cheetah & lived in a another part of the Meru Game Park. The park at that point was in disrepair, closed to the public because of the considerable fear of Shifta or Somali terrorists who occasionally made incursions into this part of Kenya.
Of course, being young & somewhat less than adequately fearful of the local warnings, a friend & myself would borrow a rattly antique Landrover from a mission station run by the Italian Consolata Fathers, stopping at the local Indian (Hindu) store in Meru to buy a bottle of White Horse scotch and we then had full admission to George's world for the weekend. Bringing some Three Nuns or other pipe tobacco also helped to seal the deal.
What I remember most is that George always seemed more interested in hearing about life in America and discussing the raging war in Vietnam than in recounting his life in Kenya as a settler & game warden, his anti-poaching efforts & his activities during WWII.
He did in one long & rambling story talk about driving in the 1930s from Kenya across the continent to what was then colonial British & French West Africa, just living off the land, encountering all manner of animals & countless different African tribes who had very little or no previous experience with people other than those of their own tribe.
This was a safari or travel adventure at a very elemental level in terms of equipment or paved roads & without a safety net of any sort but somehow luck was with him all the way to Senegal. This was George's ideal world, simply following the stars into the (mostly) unknown & taking stock of what he experienced along the way!
Bwana Game details Adamson's early life in British East Africa, as well as the post-colonial period where many adaptations had to be made but because of George's work as a game warden and the later publicity that came with the publication of Born Free & the other books + the eventual film & television series, George & Joy Adamson became Kenyan commodities of a sort, when in fact both wanted more than anything to be left alone.
Embedded in the book is George's explanation of the entry of Joy into his life, a presence he initially attempted to avoid but which in time became inevitable. Joy was an avid painter and did wonderful portraits of the various tribes in Kenya before distinctive tribal garb began to disappear in favor of more Western clothing and her book, The Peoples of Kenya (also published by Collins & Harvill in the UK) is very much worth having if interested in the culture of Kenya and able to locate a copy.
George had a very wry sense of humor & in illustrating his hatred of administrative details, he mentions a District Commissioner in Kenya who likewise tried at all costs to ignore the more menial functions of his job by creating 4 rubber stamps to deal with those petitioning his intervention for various problems, none of which would involve his assistance:
1)Shauri ya Police: (the word "Shauri" being Swahili for problem or affair) & thus meaning: It's the business of the local police).This is a warmly remembered account of a man who fell in love with Africa at a young age and somehow managed to evolve to fit different roles within newly independent Kenya but also the story of some lions (Boy, Girl, Ugas, etc.) raised in captivity & George's tender & loving attempt to expose them to their natural state, an amazing tale in itself.
2)Shauri ya Customs: It is the affair of Customs Dept.
3)Shauri Yako: It's your own problem or affair. And lastly...
4)Shauri ya Mungu: It is the will of God.
Among the many evocative photos in my edition of the book is one of Adamson, smoking his pipe and clad in shorts & his bush jacket nursing a young lion cub with an erstwhile Tusker beer bottle, though one presumes it contained milk at that point. Witnessing the bond of trust & affection between Adamson & the lions was most extraordinary.
I don't think that one needs to have set foot in Africa to take this story to heart or to savor the other facets of the life of George Adamson in Bwana Game.
May 15, 2011
This is the first autobiography by the man who helped raised Elsa the lioness with his wife Joy Adamson famous for her book Born Free, the story of Elsa.
This was one of the best books I have ever read. It would be up there in my top 10. He was a very awe inspiring man who though he died the year before I was born I feel a certain kinship towards him. If I could be like anyone it would be George Adamson. He has inspired me to be a better person.
What I loved most about his book was how human he was. He did not put up a front and I found him incredibly likeable. I just wish I could have met him. Alas the days of men like George Adamson are quickly dwindling. It is my firm belief that we should be looking at his great deeds in an effort to move forward. I highly recommend this book to all.
This was one of the best books I have ever read. It would be up there in my top 10. He was a very awe inspiring man who though he died the year before I was born I feel a certain kinship towards him. If I could be like anyone it would be George Adamson. He has inspired me to be a better person.
What I loved most about his book was how human he was. He did not put up a front and I found him incredibly likeable. I just wish I could have met him. Alas the days of men like George Adamson are quickly dwindling. It is my firm belief that we should be looking at his great deeds in an effort to move forward. I highly recommend this book to all.
October 3, 2011
George Adamson was a fascinating man. I have read and enjoyed all of Joy Adamsons books about Elsa and the cubs, Born Free especially. However as I did further research on George I was amazed at the life this man had lived as a game warden in Africa for most of his life. His life is full of adventure, stories, animals, and he tells it well in Bwana Game.
May 11, 2019
An Excellent read. Review yet to come.
June 27, 2012
Bwana Game is George Adamson's memoir of his early life with Elsa and Joy Adamson. Could have been better edited. His second book, My Pride and Joy, is quite repetitive of incidents in Bwana Game, but better written.
October 26, 2020
Most recall Joy Adamson's and her Lion Elsa. Yes, I've read Joy's many books but was never really that impressed. I happen to come across her husband George Adamson's book and it turned into a must-read.
The book is titled: A Lifetime With Lions by George Adamson
It's informative and funny. Some great photo's. The book talks about his life in Africa, of course, Elsa moments are included but also how he deals with other wildlife. A story about a man one never really heard much about. Such as how he took in lions from the Elsa film and what became of them. It's just an all-out wonderful story.
https://theworldisabookandiamitsreade...
The book is titled: A Lifetime With Lions by George Adamson
It's informative and funny. Some great photo's. The book talks about his life in Africa, of course, Elsa moments are included but also how he deals with other wildlife. A story about a man one never really heard much about. Such as how he took in lions from the Elsa film and what became of them. It's just an all-out wonderful story.
https://theworldisabookandiamitsreade...
May 6, 2024
Loved this book though perhaps his methods a little outdated and not very PC. The killing of snakes and poisoning of hyenas will shock modern conservationists but over all a great African adventure.
April 23, 2025
Really good read to supplement Born FREE, and Living FREE.
August 2, 2015
George Adamson lead a fascinating life. The prose isn't the best, but the content makes up for that.
May 20, 2012
Excellent read!!
August 12, 2012
What more needs to be said. I was fortunate enough to find an original hardback on amazon.
January 25, 2017
Entertaining adventures spotty writing but compelling stories. Wonderful off the cuff comments, describing an amazing terrain during a time of transition.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews