The Ghosts of Africa

by William Stevenson

A fictional account of the adventures of Paul von Lettow, the World War I Prussian commander who created the first modern guerilla army, follows von Lettow and his soldiers as they successfully battle the British

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Africa, Novels, War, World War I

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1980

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

William Stevenson was a British-born Canadian author and journalist. His 1976 book "A Man Called Intrepid" was about William Stephenson (no relation) and was a best-seller. It was made into a 1979 mini-series starring David Niven and Stevenson followed it up with a 1983 book titled "Intrepid's Last Case."

Stevenson set a record with another 1976 book, "90 Minutes at Entebbe." The book was about Operation Entebbe, an operation where Israeli commandos secretly landed at night at Entebbe Airport in Uganda and succeeded in rescuing the passengers of an airliner hi-jacked by Palestinian militants, while incurring very few casualties. The remarkable record in that pre-internet age is that Stevenson's "instant book" was written, edited, printed and available for sale within weeks of the event it described.

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for the first half of this book at all. I read historical fiction all the time but this book was disjointed, and difficult to follow. The second half definitely improved, after the focus switched from trying to introduce too many characters to actually telling the story of Von Lettow and WWI in Africa.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

no story, did not like at all

[Sully Augustine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars out of 5 - I read a hardbound of this over the past few evenings. I must have picked it up in a used book store many years ago. It's a novelization of a relatively little known military campaign in East Africa that played out over a vast area during World War I. In sum, a few hundred Germans and a couple of thousand African troops they had trained fought a guerilla war that eventually drew in a couple of hundred thousand British Empire troops and as many support personnel aside from several hundred thousand conscripted African "bearers." The Germans thus diverted significant British strength from Europe. Some parts of the novel appear to be pasted on, such as the brief account of the arrival of the zeppelin, perhaps at the suggestion of the publisher, who dearly wanted to put that airship on the dust jacket.

[Yusuf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatness Among Us

How many exceptional human beings, I have to wonder after reading this book, and how many of their incredible achievements, have been lost in the march of human history? The stories that have been recorded, or recaptured and reimagined, like this one, are monuments to those who went unnoticed by the world at large, but whose contributions to humanity were no less inspiring. This is a book for anyone in search of a reason to “keep on keepin’ on” or to strive in their own way for excellence. In short, the book is an inspiration, as are the characters whose lives it depicts. If, as Doctorow states, “Images are the facts of history,” then the images invoked by the author place the reader in the midst of greatness.

[John Benson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this historical novel along with Leonard Mosley's excellent history of World War I in East Africa, DUEL FOR KILIMANJARO, I became frustrated with a book that included many of the same characters but told a story that did not fit the reality that was described in the history. Stevenson's novel includes no maps, no timeline, and hardly any non-white characters. The book has many female characters but almost all of them are depicted as spies and lovers. Much of the story is told through dialog but it hard to know where they are when talking. Most of the war took place in the East African bush but most of this book happens in houses or bedrooms. The novel needed more ties to actual events to make it believable.

[Guna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about the struggle in East Africa during World War I. Lieutenant-Colonel Lettow (a real character in Africa at this time) creates and leads the first modern guerilla army, against his Governor's wishes, and the prevailing concept of white supremacy. An enjoyable and informative read.

[Eugene Plawiuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

rIP ROARING ADVENTURE, WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE, AND ALL BASED ON HISTORICAL FACT.

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just could get into this book, so stopped reading.