End of the Game

by Peter H. Beard

A pointed photographic and narrative account of the decimation of African wildlife and the African landscape

Genres: Photography, Africa, Art, History, Nonfiction, Travel, Art and Photography

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Beard and his body of work only rang a vague bell in my readerly mind when I first met the results of one project he was part of in The Eyelids of Morning. I'm no closer to understanding what made him tick, even after reading The End of the Game--it's clear that he loved Africa, especially eastern Africa. It's also clear that he loved the thrill of the safari and the hunt for big game, and that in many ways he was a trophy hunter, even with his cameras. A trust fund playboy, a Peter Pan who saw Africa as "the greatest playground in history," an adventurer who got off on the adrenalin rush of danger--those are some of the strands that make up Peter Beard.

Beard is very clear that rich, mostly European, white men with guns changed Africa forever. In Zara's Tales (2004) he writes of an ethnic group called the Waliangulis, "For centuries these bow hunters lived, and lived well, among the elephants and rhinos. A natural order was established----coexistence--symbiosis! They were all surviving nicely, in balance until the white man came along to 'save them.'" (p. 58) Right he is. But . . . on the flip side Beard seems to romanticize these adventurers, coming to Africa for big game, big safaris, high adventure. What they did is well documented in this book.

So is the horrible mismanagement of Tsavo Wilderness Park, in which thousands and thousands of elephants starved to death. Beard's photographs bear witness to that terrible event, and the ensuing destruction of the environment. This terrible mismanagement of wildlife--what a dreadful foundation from which to develop plans to maintain a sustainable environment for these great beasts, whether the elephant or the rhino or the great ape . . . well you can see where I'm going with that one.

(Obviously, my sensibilities have been disturbed by Peter Beard's flamboyance and love of a wild fracas. I've perused a number of books about the safari in Africa, and thought the book written by Bartle Bull and titled Safari (of course!) provided good history and further insight into big game trophy hunters and the safari through time. Beard is mentioned once, and of course it's around a ruckus during a dangerous photo shoot.)

[Keen Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The game is both the hunt and the hunted, the sport and the trophy. The game is killing the game.”

Reading this it’s hard not to recall some of the footage taken from one of the many David Attenborough documentaries and the sheer scale of decline, and in many cases, the decimation of animals and their habitat throughout sub-Saharan Africa. This book works as a confronting and all too telling portrayal of the death and devastation caused by decades of clumsy, colonial greed. Africa was exposed to the unrelenting cruelty and brutality of the savage white man, with no interest in his fair share but only wanting more, more, more as they used and abused the worst aspects of technological advancements to dominate, plunder and destroy.

Many of these photographs (all black & white) are powerful and enduring, there are so many permutations of the same images and scenes, carcasses reduced to leather and bone, exposed to the punishing elements and the scavenging fauna. Pompous, triumphant white men, and scantily clad, vacant eyed natives, with weapons in hand. Then there are the bone yards, the tusk mountains and the vast carpets of animal hide all displayed with a triumphant pride. It’s all awful but a powerful tool if used in the right way to protect these existing creatures.

This reads like a scrapbook of slaughter. It’s horror as a hobby, all wrapped up in racist, colonial elitism and toxicity masculinity and we should thank our lucky stars that such a thing as conservationists exist in the world, or it all would have been gone, many, many years ago.
Unfortunately the vast majority of the text is as dry and dusty as one of those old abandoned mining towns you see cast adrift in the vast sands of the Namib Desert and this doesn’t make for very engaging or stimulating reading at all.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

The End of the Game: The Last Word From A Pictorial Documentation of the Origins, History, and Prospects of the Big Game in Africa by Peter H. Beard (Doubleday and Co. 1977) (915.76). This is a book of vintage hunting photos; it documents a more pristine Africa before the herds were thinned to present-day levels. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 2/4/2010.

[Nicolette · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent project and well documented examination on how flagrant and how easily mans superficial greed impacts environments and balances that we can't even imagine. If this had been Peter Beard's only contribution, which it certainly is not, he would still be a grand hero to me.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book in its hard copy form is astounding in every way. I cannot even imagine how what was true when the author wrote this book in the ‘60s must be even more horrifically so today. His writing is beautiful, and I love the way he incorporated the journals of those who had been long before he entered the picture. Reading this amazing photographic story of Africa is as close as I will ever get to seeing what once was but will never be again. I wanted to write the author a note of thanks for this magnificent volume but found I was too late as he passed on last year. The pictures are gorgeous and haunting and unforgettable. Such a book this is ~ Now, I am on to my next African adventures by way of Patterson and Dinesen.

[ruralisolationshortie · Rating 5 out of 5]

checked this monster of a book out from the library bc i like peter beard a lot. The ending where he includes his letter and makes a bullet point list abt the realities of game hunting rly gets to the heart of the matter. its more than just poaching its a land issue! its a health issue! famine! theres more to it than the simple idea of not killing for fun (which should be examined inside each one of us--why the need to kill?). difficult to look at but thankful i did. wish i had my own copy

[Fifi Zav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le plus beau livre d'amour pour un endroit, l'Afrique de l'est, que je connaisse.
Peter Beard mixe ses photos avec des archives incroyables ( not. celles de Karen Blixen et sa ferme en Afrique), annote, ecrit, recopie et crée un livre magnifique et déchirant. Il l'a publié en 1965 à 26 ans.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique collage book. The black and white photos of dead and dying wild animals are going to stick in my brain for quite a long time.

[Gordon MacLellan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book in 1983 when I was working in Malawi. It felt all the more poignant then as it caught scenes I was meeting myself. It has remained a shocking, but grimly inspiring book ever since

[Paolo]

A wonderful book (against hunting)

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My safari client had P. Beard sign this book for Rome.

[Sharonh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book was written 50 years ago, it is more relevant today than ever before. When will man wake up and realise what he is doing to this earth?

[david Cabrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lloré con el trabajo de Peter Beard, los últimos grandes cazadores de leones, cementerios de elefantes.

[Mary Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been obsessed with Peter Beard for a couple decades now...he never disappoints.

[Mike Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional

[Peter Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that defies conventional description. Unorthadox in style and layout, it is both a poignant history and a glimpse into an uncertain future. Brilliantly conceived and executed.

[bankelele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't blame China..most of Africa's wildlife was wiped out in the colonial/early independence hunting era #endgame