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White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safaris
Brian Herne's White The Golden Age of African Safaris is the story of seventy years of African adventure, danger, and romance.East Africa affects our imagination like few other the sight of a charging rhino goes directly to the heart; the limitless landscape of bony highlands, desert, and mountain is, as Isak Dinesen wrote, of "unequalled nobility." White Hunters re-creates the legendary big-game safaris led by Selous and Bell and the daring ventures of early hunters into unexplored territories, and brings to life such romantic figures as Cape-to-Cairo Grogan, who walked 4,000 miles for the love of a woman, and Dinesen's dashing lover, Denys Finch. Witnesses to the richest wildlife spectacle on the earth, these hunters were the first conservationists. Hard-drinking, infatuated with risk, and careless in love, they inspired Hemingway's stories and movies with Clark Gable and Gregory Peck.
481 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 25, 2018
My first thought when I read this book was that I have a quiet life. I mean, I've never shot a charging lion point blank, then had it crawl all over me, maul me, and die right on top of me. On second thought, maybe it's a good thing I have a boring life.
This book is about different men traveling to different places and killing different things.
I did enjoy reading about the behavior of the various animals. You learn about how wounded lions, buffalo and elephant behave. For example, I learned that buffalo are vindictive. They will pick out the hunter from the party, follow him, and hide, then bludgeon him to death. Gruesome stuff. It makes me think of that short story about humans hunting humans.
White Hunters covers a subject I've never read about and have no plans to partake in, but I was entertained for the first 300 pages. The last 100 were overkill (no pun intended) for me. :)
This book is about different men traveling to different places and killing different things.
I did enjoy reading about the behavior of the various animals. You learn about how wounded lions, buffalo and elephant behave. For example, I learned that buffalo are vindictive. They will pick out the hunter from the party, follow him, and hide, then bludgeon him to death. Gruesome stuff. It makes me think of that short story about humans hunting humans.
White Hunters covers a subject I've never read about and have no plans to partake in, but I was entertained for the first 300 pages. The last 100 were overkill (no pun intended) for me. :)
May 18, 2017
This book proved the best of all I read for research of my latest thriller/adventure 'Big Jim.' The author himself was a professional hunter and game warden, and brings to light many details of this profession like how the name 'Great White Hunter' was coined, and who the person(s) were. He also brings to light how professional hunting helps balance wild life, the first white hunters to appear, and how their work as game wardens protects the wildlife from poachers. It's an adventure through history for readers who enjoy true excitement. You don't have to enjoy or be an advocate of hunting. I'm certainly no hunter and do not advocate it, but this book helped me understand the desire for people who choose to hunt. It's an exciting book discussing what safari camp-life is like, and why people choose to explore the Dark Continent on the last great adventure....a safari.
I bought this book at Mysterious Galaxy Books and can't believe it's taken me this long to write a review. I highly recommend it.
I bought this book at Mysterious Galaxy Books and can't believe it's taken me this long to write a review. I highly recommend it.
March 27, 2025
Loved this book about white hunters through the years on safaris in Africa. Sad that poaching, political upheaval and overpopulation have done away with the one thing that protected and helped the animals survive and that was the white hunters and the safaris.
January 11, 2012
White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safaris is an adventure-history of the larger-than-life hunters (who were white Europeans) that roamed Africa killing big game trophies from the late 1800's until the 1970's. The book concentrates on the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and is filled with campfire stories about the white hunters and their famous clients, including Teddy Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway, Karen Blixen, Gregory Peck and Grace Kelly.
The stories are exciting, with elephants and rhinos charging, lions and leopards mauling, and buffalos goring, but they are short and after awhile become a little monotonous. I really enjoyed reading the book, but the string of anecdotes began to run into one another and the names kept changing every few pages. The large scope of White Hunters limits its depth, but it’s a good introduction to the litany of white hunters in East Africa. One major problem though is the confusing chronology. I often felt lost in time. Simply adding the date to certain paragraphs would alleviate this confusion.
Herne maintains that the white hunters were also the biggest conservationists. Certainly they had a financial imperative to make sure that the animals survived (so that they could charge rich Europeans and Americans to go shoot them) and generally they did respect the animals and love the land. It’s an odd dichotomy though, the hunter-conservationist, especially as the glorified tales of killings pile up throughout the book. With the recent extinction of the Western Black Rhino though, one has to wonder if regulated hunting might have improved the chances of the big game species, especially the elephant and the rhino. Hunters were expert policers of poaching.
Mid-20th century white hunters were mythologized by Hemingway and Hollywood, and Herne does nothing to change that. Nearly all of them are handsome and powerful rogues based in the Wild West town of Nairobi. Herne himself was a white hunter at the tail end of the glory days, and some of the best reading comes from letters and interviews with the old guard. The research was certainly extensive, with a nice bibliography and notes, but Herne writes with the unmistakable tone of admiration that keeps this book from being entirely believable. Not that Herne isn’t telling the truth, just that he is telling a one-sided truth, that of white Europeans who colonized a continent. I would like to have heard testimony from the African gun-bearers and servants at least, if not the farmers and nomadic herders whose land was taken away.
Herne ends White Hunters (published in 1999) with a look at conservation efforts at the end of the millennium. Overpopulation of people had pushed the animals into smaller and smaller areas, and poaching was still a problem.
Filled with great campfire adventure stories, White Hunters is a good introduction to the cast of characters hunting in East Africa over a one hundred year period.
The stories are exciting, with elephants and rhinos charging, lions and leopards mauling, and buffalos goring, but they are short and after awhile become a little monotonous. I really enjoyed reading the book, but the string of anecdotes began to run into one another and the names kept changing every few pages. The large scope of White Hunters limits its depth, but it’s a good introduction to the litany of white hunters in East Africa. One major problem though is the confusing chronology. I often felt lost in time. Simply adding the date to certain paragraphs would alleviate this confusion.
Herne maintains that the white hunters were also the biggest conservationists. Certainly they had a financial imperative to make sure that the animals survived (so that they could charge rich Europeans and Americans to go shoot them) and generally they did respect the animals and love the land. It’s an odd dichotomy though, the hunter-conservationist, especially as the glorified tales of killings pile up throughout the book. With the recent extinction of the Western Black Rhino though, one has to wonder if regulated hunting might have improved the chances of the big game species, especially the elephant and the rhino. Hunters were expert policers of poaching.
Mid-20th century white hunters were mythologized by Hemingway and Hollywood, and Herne does nothing to change that. Nearly all of them are handsome and powerful rogues based in the Wild West town of Nairobi. Herne himself was a white hunter at the tail end of the glory days, and some of the best reading comes from letters and interviews with the old guard. The research was certainly extensive, with a nice bibliography and notes, but Herne writes with the unmistakable tone of admiration that keeps this book from being entirely believable. Not that Herne isn’t telling the truth, just that he is telling a one-sided truth, that of white Europeans who colonized a continent. I would like to have heard testimony from the African gun-bearers and servants at least, if not the farmers and nomadic herders whose land was taken away.
Herne ends White Hunters (published in 1999) with a look at conservation efforts at the end of the millennium. Overpopulation of people had pushed the animals into smaller and smaller areas, and poaching was still a problem.
Filled with great campfire adventure stories, White Hunters is a good introduction to the cast of characters hunting in East Africa over a one hundred year period.
June 14, 2012
I was actually really annoyed by this book. It gets three stars only because it is a reasonable road map to further studies on the subject. But this isn't history. This is a series of book reports. It consists entirely of anecdotes culled from the memoirs of hunters, travelers and tourists, and brings nothing new to the table. There is no true synthesis whatsoever. The author occasionally tosses in an "As was typical in the African millieu of the time..." or "At the time, it was uncommon for..." but there is virtually no commentary or valuation. It's like he sat down with a bunch of memoirs and typed out the weirdest bits. In fact, it comes across like he didn't retype, but clipped this stuff from Gutenberg and then paraphrased it. That seems likely, because of how intolerably long some of the anecdotes go on, long after it's become clear they're nothing more than anecdotes.
This approach is no more effective here than it was in Victor Ostrovsky's By Way of Deception, which I detested even more. Herne has done a much better job than Ostrovsky of relying on first-hand, supported accounts, and in qualifying them where they might be less than factual. But then, the events related in Herne's book are less critical in the details, since they're presented as "rousing good tales." I found them both rousing and good in quantities of one or two...as an entire book, they're neither.
It's a shame, too, because the topic of white hunters in Africa could be given a very interesting approach that incorporated synthesis of the times. Unfortunately, "the times" would have to be defined, which Herne doesn't bother to do. The book's marketing implies we're talking about Victorian and Edwardian hunters, but then Herne careens all over the 20th century, even into the modern era. Huh? If he was going to do that, he should have written AN ACTUAL HISTORY of white hunting in Africa, instead of a series of anecdotes. Otherwise, he should have stuck with one general era or a couple of them, and drawn parallels that help define the times. Instead, he just blathered on indefinitely, unable to pick out the unifying threads in what he'd written (or perhaps had his research assistants read for him).
In the social sciences, I am fond of saying, the plural of anecdote is not data. And the plural of anecdote is also not "history." The plural of anecdote is "mind-bending boredom."
This approach is no more effective here than it was in Victor Ostrovsky's By Way of Deception, which I detested even more. Herne has done a much better job than Ostrovsky of relying on first-hand, supported accounts, and in qualifying them where they might be less than factual. But then, the events related in Herne's book are less critical in the details, since they're presented as "rousing good tales." I found them both rousing and good in quantities of one or two...as an entire book, they're neither.
It's a shame, too, because the topic of white hunters in Africa could be given a very interesting approach that incorporated synthesis of the times. Unfortunately, "the times" would have to be defined, which Herne doesn't bother to do. The book's marketing implies we're talking about Victorian and Edwardian hunters, but then Herne careens all over the 20th century, even into the modern era. Huh? If he was going to do that, he should have written AN ACTUAL HISTORY of white hunting in Africa, instead of a series of anecdotes. Otherwise, he should have stuck with one general era or a couple of them, and drawn parallels that help define the times. Instead, he just blathered on indefinitely, unable to pick out the unifying threads in what he'd written (or perhaps had his research assistants read for him).
In the social sciences, I am fond of saying, the plural of anecdote is not data. And the plural of anecdote is also not "history." The plural of anecdote is "mind-bending boredom."
May 30, 2016
This is not a hunting book in the typical sense. Rather, it is a brief history, or series of brief life sketches, about the lives of "white hunters" in Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, etc.). It gives significant insight into the cultural elite of colonial East Africa at the time, their ties with Europe (particularly England), their lives, loves, flaws, strengths, deaths and hunts. Before political correctness and environmental and animal rights extremisms co-opted the lives and thoughts of millions of otherwise intelligent people, there was a golden age of safaris in Africa, where the business, cultural and royal elites from the United States (including Hollywood) and Europe (including the English Royal Family) put their lives on hold for as long as a year at a time to trek across wild Africa in search of adventure, hunting, and friendship. They were led by "white hunters," professional hunting guides of, typically, European decent. The white hunters were assisted by able and dedicated trackers, gun bearers, and skinners. It's eye-opening to read of how many hunters were brutally maimed or killed by their quarry, the like of elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and cape buffalo. This is a glimpse into a time and place that are gone forever. I wish I could have experienced aspects of it.
As pointed out by other reviewers, one of the book's key flaws is that it contains too many very similar life sketches (another white hunter takes rich clients out in pursuit of dangerous game that sometimes exact revenge . . .).
This book also lends helpful perspective into the importance of animal and habitat conservation in Africa and elsewhere--movements that have been largely led and funded by hunters.
As pointed out by other reviewers, one of the book's key flaws is that it contains too many very similar life sketches (another white hunter takes rich clients out in pursuit of dangerous game that sometimes exact revenge . . .).
This book also lends helpful perspective into the importance of animal and habitat conservation in Africa and elsewhere--movements that have been largely led and funded by hunters.
July 27, 2016
The first million pages or so are a fawning catalog of an endless parade of white African hunters, most of whom end up heroically torn to ribbons or gored by buffalo or rhino. He has that misplaced nostalgia for the time, which I find silly but (barely) forgivable.
Then Herne gets to the Mau Mau uprising of the 1950's, and his earnest clumsiness turns into completely awful ham-handedness. Standard white I'm-not-racist guy perspective on African events: everything was fine in Africa, there is no justification for the uprising, and every white victim was a kind soul who had dedicated his or her life to the best interests of black Africans. The white murders are described in gruesome detail -- lying in wait in the kitchen, bursting into the bedroom, machetes to arms and legs -- while the subsequent retaliations are described offhandedly, without even granting the Mau Mau the dignity or respect that he gives to man-eating lions.
The second half doesn't quite maintain that level of offensiveness, but still manages to offend. To summarize: all conservation problems are caused by black poachers, war, and the uneducated black leaders who kick out the white hunter/farmer/conservationists. The white hunting industry preserves wildlife, but the black Africans destroy it. This line of thinking goes back to (at least) the 19th century, when European hunters would literally describe killing hundreds of animals in a single day, then in the next sentence complain that big mammals were in danger of extinction, because greedy traders were selling firearms to the natives.
Have to dispose of this POS properly so no one sees it on my bookshelf, least of all me.
Then Herne gets to the Mau Mau uprising of the 1950's, and his earnest clumsiness turns into completely awful ham-handedness. Standard white I'm-not-racist guy perspective on African events: everything was fine in Africa, there is no justification for the uprising, and every white victim was a kind soul who had dedicated his or her life to the best interests of black Africans. The white murders are described in gruesome detail -- lying in wait in the kitchen, bursting into the bedroom, machetes to arms and legs -- while the subsequent retaliations are described offhandedly, without even granting the Mau Mau the dignity or respect that he gives to man-eating lions.
The second half doesn't quite maintain that level of offensiveness, but still manages to offend. To summarize: all conservation problems are caused by black poachers, war, and the uneducated black leaders who kick out the white hunter/farmer/conservationists. The white hunting industry preserves wildlife, but the black Africans destroy it. This line of thinking goes back to (at least) the 19th century, when European hunters would literally describe killing hundreds of animals in a single day, then in the next sentence complain that big mammals were in danger of extinction, because greedy traders were selling firearms to the natives.
Have to dispose of this POS properly so no one sees it on my bookshelf, least of all me.
November 4, 2023
It was very interesting. It tells many tales of professional hunters/safari guides and the dangerous situations they faced, which is a whole new world that I knew nothing about. The story of how a simple hunt quickly turns into a fight for your life when a wounded lion or rhino suddenly turns and charges you head-on can be quite riveting.
However, to me, the book seemed to drag. After a while, the stories began to sound the same. Yes, it's a different person facing a charging leopard, and yes, it's a slightly different circumstance, but it's not *that* different. There are a lot of names, which can be hard to keep straight when listening to a book on audio, like I did. Print might be a little better, because you can look back to remind yourself what's unique about this person or this era.
But overall a very good read. A fascinating peek into an bygone era.
Side note: Is trophy hunting a good/acceptable thing? This book isn't trying to argue that it is or isn't, just sharing people's stories. However, before reading this book (which lead me to do other research) I think I would have felt strongly that trophy hunting was bad. Now, I realize it's not that simple. Poaching and human urbanization of wildlife habitat, not legal trophy hunting, are the main reasons that certain species are endangered.
However, to me, the book seemed to drag. After a while, the stories began to sound the same. Yes, it's a different person facing a charging leopard, and yes, it's a slightly different circumstance, but it's not *that* different. There are a lot of names, which can be hard to keep straight when listening to a book on audio, like I did. Print might be a little better, because you can look back to remind yourself what's unique about this person or this era.
But overall a very good read. A fascinating peek into an bygone era.
Side note: Is trophy hunting a good/acceptable thing? This book isn't trying to argue that it is or isn't, just sharing people's stories. However, before reading this book (which lead me to do other research) I think I would have felt strongly that trophy hunting was bad. Now, I realize it's not that simple. Poaching and human urbanization of wildlife habitat, not legal trophy hunting, are the main reasons that certain species are endangered.
April 25, 2022
It was interesting read for me.
I love the stories of hunting and hunter. This book led me to read and google many things of African Safaris. I wish one day, I would be able to visit Africa.
The worst thing in this book is the talk about the white hunter as the master of the African land, while forgetting all about the native tripes in Africa (white man this and white man that IN AFRICA).
Also, the talk about conservation was shallow. Conservation seems to be a mere slogan for every white hunter.
I love the stories of hunting and hunter. This book led me to read and google many things of African Safaris. I wish one day, I would be able to visit Africa.
The worst thing in this book is the talk about the white hunter as the master of the African land, while forgetting all about the native tripes in Africa (white man this and white man that IN AFRICA).
Also, the talk about conservation was shallow. Conservation seems to be a mere slogan for every white hunter.
January 10, 2018
This is a harrowing history.
Professional "white hunters" taking plutocrats on a vacation to shoot wild game sounds depressing.
But the truth is, at least in the pioneer days of hunting safaris, the animals gave as good as they got. The "white hunters" who died outright were the lucky ones. Gangrene, swamp fever, and the malaria took their toll. But so did paying customers.
In the end many "white hunters" became wardens and worked to thwart poachers.
(Poachers were driven to their trade by economic desperation and post-colonial government policy in the case of newly independent states like Uganda.)
Highly recommended for those with nerves of steel.
Professional "white hunters" taking plutocrats on a vacation to shoot wild game sounds depressing.
But the truth is, at least in the pioneer days of hunting safaris, the animals gave as good as they got. The "white hunters" who died outright were the lucky ones. Gangrene, swamp fever, and the malaria took their toll. But so did paying customers.
In the end many "white hunters" became wardens and worked to thwart poachers.
(Poachers were driven to their trade by economic desperation and post-colonial government policy in the case of newly independent states like Uganda.)
Highly recommended for those with nerves of steel.
September 19, 2024
This book is a series of sketches and some various disjointed sketches. And not all of them are White Hunters despite the title their is an interesting portrait of a South Asian Muslim - Kenyan hunter.
I read this book across two trips to Africa one a trip through Uganda and Tanzania where I stayed in a lodge in Bukoba where Sinatra and Ava Gardner stayed apparently. A grand hunting lodge for white hunters in its day and I have visited some of the Nairobi properties mentioned in this book.
The section on the Mau Mau was quite interesting but, very dated and colonial in its outlook.
I read this book across two trips to Africa one a trip through Uganda and Tanzania where I stayed in a lodge in Bukoba where Sinatra and Ava Gardner stayed apparently. A grand hunting lodge for white hunters in its day and I have visited some of the Nairobi properties mentioned in this book.
The section on the Mau Mau was quite interesting but, very dated and colonial in its outlook.
April 28, 2024
A great 100 + year history of African hunters
This book starts in the late 1800's with "white hunters", animals and safaris that lead up to the 1980's. By this time, war, social unrest and poachers stopped trophy hunting. Africa and its animal population has changed to never be the same. Great history of the trip that Africa has made over 100 years.
This book starts in the late 1800's with "white hunters", animals and safaris that lead up to the 1980's. By this time, war, social unrest and poachers stopped trophy hunting. Africa and its animal population has changed to never be the same. Great history of the trip that Africa has made over 100 years.
September 22, 2024
A splendid survey of the golden age of safaris in old Kenya, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), and Uganda. The author provides the history of hunting in those countries as well as histories of the dedicated, hard working, and colourful professional hunters who played so large a part in that incredible time. Highly recommended for any fan of old African hunting!
August 2, 2025
7/10, rounded down to 3/5. Sometimes it's a little bit too thin, like a quick reading of newspaper clippings. Sometimes it's better. It would have been nice to continue past the seventies a bit, but I guess by then the White Hunter era was over.
March 29, 2019
Good history of the history of hunting in East Africa in general and Kenya in particular. Pretty wild tales of what those early hunters encountered.
September 14, 2021
Excellent book
Fascinating history of the East African Safari. Great men and women blazed the trail. I very highly recommend this book.
Fascinating history of the East African Safari. Great men and women blazed the trail. I very highly recommend this book.
April 7, 2022
Herne writes and researches well.
March 7, 2024
One of the most enthralling books I have read. Adventure, excitement, humour and horror. Herne writes with passion about a subject he loves.
March 22, 2017
I heard this book described as interesting but a little dry, so I was fully planning on just skimming a lot. But I ended up reading almost the whole thing! I have two biases though: one was I was in Africa at the time I read it, and the other is my grandfather did a lot of hunting in Africa in the 1960's, so I could almost picture him hanging out with the wild characters in the book.
What I loved were all the stories of hunts and the pioneer type hunters that led them. Numerous maulings and close calls dealing with all sorts of animals. Surprisingly, the most dangerous animals in Africa are (in order): Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion, Rhino. Unless you wound the Lion then he's #1. Don't mess with Simba.
What I loved were all the stories of hunts and the pioneer type hunters that led them. Numerous maulings and close calls dealing with all sorts of animals. Surprisingly, the most dangerous animals in Africa are (in order): Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion, Rhino. Unless you wound the Lion then he's #1. Don't mess with Simba.
July 29, 2009
As I read “White Hunters”, it was as if I was back in Africa
listening to tales while relaxing around the evening campfire
following a day-long safari on Kenya’s breath-taking Masai Mara.
“White Hunters” is a colorful collection of stories covering
seventy-years of hunting, exploring and photographing in East
Africa. These are the stories of the dashing and daring men and
women who lived during this incredible period.
listening to tales while relaxing around the evening campfire
following a day-long safari on Kenya’s breath-taking Masai Mara.
“White Hunters” is a colorful collection of stories covering
seventy-years of hunting, exploring and photographing in East
Africa. These are the stories of the dashing and daring men and
women who lived during this incredible period.
November 13, 2017
It's pretty gut wrenching to read the parade of destruction rained down upon the "Big 5" (Water Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion, Rhino), but they sure gave nearly as good as they got to the humans they managed to gore, crush, trample, or maul.
However, the colorful cast of characters (rogue's gallery?) of "white hunters" never really coalesces into a compelling narrative in this overview of European safari men of Africa's 20th Century
However, the colorful cast of characters (rogue's gallery?) of "white hunters" never really coalesces into a compelling narrative in this overview of European safari men of Africa's 20th Century
October 14, 2013
Could not finish. I think I'm too soft for Africa. This book contains lots of colourful stories of the glamorous and rich slaughtering magnificent and brave beasts. The hunters were brave too, although the odds for the animals were astonishing poor. How brave can a hunter be if the odds are thousands to one in his favour. I wish they had not shot out most areas of Africa and eradicated all Elephants with big tusks. One guy shot 14 lions in one day... Just for fun. Ghastly.
March 3, 2016
Fantastic book. Worth reading by anyone with an interest in the colonial era in Kenya, Tanzania or anyone who enjoys great hunting stories. I read this multiple times and plan to read it again - full of extraordinary details that shed light on a fascinating period of history.
August 9, 2015
Couldn't finish. One reviewer said that a string of anecdotes isn't history. It is not even a sustainable read.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews