Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters

Jane Goodall's Autobiography in Letters #1

by Jane Goodall, Dale Peterson (Editor)

The woman who devoted her life to studying chimps in Africa looks back on her life, from her early love of animals and an adolescent crush on her minister to her years in the bush observing primates and often sacrificing life's more stable pleasures. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Biography, Memoir, Animals, Nature, Science

400 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2000

About the author

For the Australian academic and mystery writer, see Professor Jane R. Goodall.

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace was a world-renowned ethologist and activist inspiring greater understanding and action on behalf of the natural world every single day.

Dr. Goodall was best known for groundbreaking studies of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, transformative research that continues to this day as the longest-running wild chimpanzee study in the world. Dr. Goodall was the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a global conservation, advocacy, animal welfare, research, and youth empowerment organization, including her global Roots & Shoots program.

Dr. Goodall had worked extensively on climate action, human rights, conservation, and animal welfare issues for decades, and was a central voice in the work to advance environmental progress.

Reviews

[Gisela Hafezparast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting reading Jane Goodall's letters, showing her progress from a quite spoilt and protected upper middle class girl to one of the most eminent researchers I can think of. And who would have thought it, Jane Goodall was a flirt!

There is so much more to say about privilege leading to opportunities. Beauty making life easier, but in the end for me Jane redeemed herself through her work.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane has been my hero ever since I saw her in National Geo with her red high tops and her child named Grub. I didn't know about her life in England at all until I read this book, and my favorite new fact is that her first name is Valerie. If I'd known that sooner, I might have made more efforts to emulate her, and even now, I would be posting these reviews from the forests of Africa.

[Kelsey Hipkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fan of the editors writing style but if you skip through to Ms. Goodalls letters they’re pretty brill

[Jgrace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters - Goodall/Peterson
3 stars

The sub-title says it all. This is a collection of Jane Goodall’s correspondence, beginning with a childish note to her mother written in 1942 and ending with the personal and business letters of 1967. Each chapter is introduced with biographical and interpretive information written by Dale Peterson.

I have great admiration for Jane Goodall. I stood in line for a signed copy of this book at an early Los Angeles Times Book Festival. I’d dipped into the book to read bits and pieces over the years, but this is the first time that I read it cover to cover. It was not an easy book to read. As much as I respect this woman, or possibly because I respect her, I didn’t like reading her very personal letters. I wasn’t especially interested in her personal life and it felt like an invasion of her privacy. Much of the early correspondence bored me, until she started writing from Gombe.

There were some insights to be gained from this book that made it worth reading. It brought home the very primitive nature of Goodall’s early research. This isn’t news, but her personal letters highlight her absolute focus on her task despite dire conditions and a substantial amount of serious illness. It’s unfortunate that these are all Goodall’s letters to others, and not their letters to her, but it’s clear that even at a distance, she was very connected to her family and dependent on them for emotional support. Her early, pervasive interest in animals is everywhere in her letters. Even in her earliest letters, it is sometimes difficult to tell if she is talking about an animal or a person in her comments.

I think my biggest take-away from this reading has to be the vast changes in technology that have taken place since the mid-twentieth century. She apologized for writing on airmail flimsy paper. Letters were lost and she waited weeks for return mail. Funding was not only limited but how the money would be distributed was complicated (the check is in the mail, but the river is flooded….). She wrote her reports on malfunctioning manual typewriters. The most technologically complicated piece of equipment that she started with was probably a pair of binoculars. Film from her first poor photographic efforts (before Hugo van Lawick arrived) were frequently overexposed or had film damaged by heat or water.

I’m just about to press a button to post this inconsequential book review to anyone in the world who would like to read it. It boggles the mind.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admire Jane for her work & I have had the privilege of hearing her speak; this book though did not keep me engrossed and reading her letters for me became quite boring. Especially since there was only her side and many times I became lost in what she was speaking about or replying to at the time of writing the letters. I have to admit that I skimmed through many of the letters.

[Sammi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel bad giving this a low review but I really struggled through it. I had predicted this to be one of my 5 star books but I was wrong.

This book is a series of Jane's letters to family and friends throughout her life through her time in Africa and marriage to Hugo.

I loved seeing Jane's non-professional personality shine through: she's cheeky, funny and always has something to say. I would say the second half of the book was better than the first (the first is her childhood and then we move onto Africa and her research). I thought it was adorable to see letters about her wedding and all the fun things in between (i.e. discussing Dr. Leaky's eye wart that's growing eyelashes out of it).

There was also the casually thrown in bit about Dr. Leaky's brother being buried alive as a human sacrifice AND I NEED MORE INFORMATION ASAP! and I need this to be made into it's own novel because I was just aghast at the small paragraph I read.

I'm wondering if I will feel the same about Beyond Innocence: An Autobiography in Letters The Later Years (likely).

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is merely a 3 because it isn’t quite scalable in the way many books are rated. The content is made up of letters from an early age to post-marriage. What I loved the most was discovering an enjoyably-relatable human in all ways. My compliments center around the fact that she wasn’t ‘special’ in the celebrated sense of the word. No... she was/is a human that loves animals, and then followed dreams no different than all of us dreamers. What is one supposed to do with their dreams if not step forward and engage them? Her letters make it seem like a matter of ‘of course,’ but we know better; most people can’t put words to their dreams because they can’t hold onto them long enough to feel them under their feet. She did.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an autobiography in letter format beginning as a teenager and progressing to the establishment of her work with the chimpanzees at Gombe. All of the letters were written by her and are addressed either to family or, later, to those who supported her research.
I'm giving it 3 instead of 4 for the first portion of her years as a social butterfly ahead of the initial trip to Africa. I enjoyed the chimp sections although I had trouble keeping everyone straight (humans and chimps). Just before finishing, I found a page in the front which explained the human relationships. In places it would have been interesting to me to know the back story of the situations that she responded to; it was as if I was missing something in spite of the introduction for each section.

[Janique Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved Jane Goodall in my younger years and would watch some of the old films she captured of some of the great apes. Her calm demeanor was always comforting to me. Reading this now as an anthropology major, I get to see her in a new light. One thing I like about this autobiography that is different than others I have read is that it is mainly letters to others from herself. This makes us see what she was really thinking at those times and how she always had a love for animals. At times we can also sense her anxiety about leaving England but her wanting to pursue her love for animals. If you love animals or are interested in anthropology/primatology, this is a must-read!

[Maryann · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating. Who would have guessed:
She never had an undergraduate degree but obtained an PH. D. from Cambridge
She was so pretty, a flirt and declined several proposals.

Wish there were more photos. I found a lot of movie clips of her on YouTuve of some of her favorite chimps. And so many bananas.

[Pamela Okano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is comprised of letter written by Jane Goodall from 1942 through 1966, arranged chronologically, with chapter introductions explaining the context for the relevant time period, which spans childhood through the building of a more or less permanent camp at Gombe. Goodall, by far the most successful of Leakey's Angels, is a fantastic writer, so the letters are a joy to read.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Goodall writes very pleasantly and with good-natured humor its very interesting to get a first hand account of the first close study of Chimpanzee. I can see why a lot of people criticize her for giving her subjects human names. but its still a very through description of the observations

[Camila Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fascinating in how it is written in letters. I loved Jane and her adventures in Africa. It was so inspiring to read and fun to see the insights into how she did her research and how she lived with the chimps.

[Karen Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to get a glimpse of Ms Goodall's life from a very different perspective.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introductions to each chapter written by the editor were interesting. However, the letters themselves made the whole narrative rather one-sided with gaps. It also became rather repetitive.

[Brandon Mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a legend, these letters are just as important as her research. Reading about her struggles and battles in the name of research is amazing.

[Unitaga · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book, although it wasn't very interesting to me, was written in a very unique and practical was. Friends and family of Jane Goodall put together a collection of her most exciting and informative letters she had sent to them and published them. Because they are letters, they describe all of the major events in detail. She talks about school when she was younger and work when she was older. Then, she talks about her adventures and progress with the chimps. She tells about how they struggle with funding, how she is a horrible photographer, her fiancé, then husband, Hugo, and much more. What I found most fascinating is that she and Hugo would set out bananas for the chimps to eat. They kept them in big wooden crates, and eventually the chimps would pull the crate apart to get to the bananas. Jane got boxes that were metal and had a simple lock on it, but the chimps repeatedly picked the lock. Finally, they got boxes that locked electronically with a remote and that solved the problem.

[ErinG · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the title states, this is a compilation of letters from Jane Goodall, starting when she was a little girl and continuing during the first years of her chimp observations. The letters are grouped, with an explanatory statement, giving insight into her life at the time.

I really enjoyed this book. I have to say I was really impressed with the tone and quality of her letters, done at a time when people took time to write and took care with what they wrote. Her life is fascinating, but a bit gory with some of the chimp and animal stuff. Particularly interesting for me is her growth as a researcher. Really an admirable life.

[Robin Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is made up completely of letters written by Jane Goodall to family, friends and colleagues, starting in1942, when she was seven years old, and ending in 1966.

I recently read In The Shadow of Man, and many incidents from that book are recounted in Jane's letters, though from a slightly different perspective, as that book was the result of her research, and this one is her own bubbly personality relating incidents to her family and friends. For the most part this was a fascinating read, though I was a bit bored by the early years, until Jane had grown up and was off working and eagerly getting ready for adventure. She seems like she would have been a very fun person to know.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jane is one of my favorite people. I love her books and hearing her speak, even if it seems as if every talk I've heard her give was basically the same. My familiarity with her makes this book, maybe, a little more interesting for me since I am familiar with so many of the names - chimps and people alike. If I did not have this background, maybe I would never pick this book up. Getting a glimpse of what the young Jane Goodall was like and following her progress in letters was interesting but, at times, a bit dry. More notes could have been used to clarify issues. Maybe. Overall, enjoyable for me but not for someone not familiar with her studies.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Jane Goodall, but I really don't like monkeys. I read this one because I am working on a letter transcription project and I wanted to see how others have taken a grouping of letters, transcribed, and summarized/grouped into chapters to create a book, so read this for form, not content as much. This was an excellent example of what I was looking for and ended up with great content as well. Very easy to get lost in book about the early life and coming about of Dr. Goodall's lifelong research, beginning when she was a small child. I rarely read non-fiction, but this one was worth a look. Both informative and entertaining.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others mentioned, this book got off to a slow start and was a bit confusing with all of the different people mentioned in the letters. A list of names and who they were may have been helpful. That being said, I enjoyed learning more about Dr. Goodall who I admire so much. I was happy that the letters from her younger years were included and I feel like I know her better as a person now. I learned many things about her that I was previously unaware of. She is a remarkable woman but over the years has grown into a legend (deservedly) and the book served as a reminder that she is also a wonderful human being, but human nonetheless.

[Lois · Rating 2 out of 5]

I truly admire this woman, but I guess I prefer a "real book" written by her in her adult years, and I have read one of those so far and enjoyed it a lot. These letters written in her youth (especially the first section) just didn't interest me enough. I felt I could have been reading letters written by almost any young girl, and those can get pretty silly at times, which these did. Since the letters were written to friends and family, tho, who'd ever think they'd end up in a book years later, so their being silly is perfectly understandable, but just not something for me.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers an incredible insight to the remarkable scientist Jane Goodall. This wonderful story of perseverance illustrates how determination and patience can lead to incredible things. It's really fascinating to go through the entire journey of Jane's life and to see how the choices she has made have influenced our view of nature and society's attitude towards it. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in science, nature, women's history, and/or overall amazing, inspiring people.

[penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love memoirs and books of letters, that must be what prompted me to buy this book. Also it was on Clearance. Going into this with no prior knowledge about Jane I didn't have any expectations. Honestly, all I knew about her was that she was a lady who worked with primates. There really was so much more to know. For me the best part was getting to know her as a child and a young woman instead of just jumping into her life when she was already a famous scientist.

[Breanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really neat to read Jane's actual letters from back in the day. Definitely an interesting autobiography and style. You get a good sense of her person in a way you don't get in normal autobiographies. However, the flow between letters was sometimes a bit hard to follow at times, and not always smooth to read. I did not like this book as much as some of her other books, but it was definitely still worth reading.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED reading Goodall's early letters. Very insightful as to how she became the legend she is today. Also great descriptions of Africa, animals, etc. The letters are grouped chronologically with short introductions to each new topic. Personally, I recommend skipping these because they give away much of the best content, but they also provide good background information if you're not familiar with Goodall's life.

[Sari Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was incredible to read about her first experiences in Africa as they were happening. I found it especially exciting because I was already familiar with her work and the animals she worked with. Reading this book was like being there with her as she made discoveries about individual animals, their personalities, and the way they lived and interacted.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I still want to read more about Jane Goodall and her fascinating work with the chimpanzees in Africa, but not in this format. This book was a compilation of a bunch of letters she wrote to family, friends, fellow researchers, etc. and it just didn't flow very well. She's written several books, so I'll try another in the future.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Africa in My Blood (A biography of Jane Goodall) I enjoyed learning more about the woman behind the famous name. It is interesting and personal in that it was written as it occurred: it is a compilation of letters that she wrote describing her work and thoughts to her family, her National Geographic sponsors, and others.