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The Gardens of Mars: Madagascar, an Island Story
A journey – both historical and contemporary – among the fantastical landscapes, resourceful inhabitants and isolated tribes of the world's fourth-largest island of enduring fascination for its rich Madagascar. 'A beautifully written depiction of the history of this beguiling island' Literary Review 'Courageous, exploratory, humane and with a wry sense of humour' Spectator We think we know Madagascar but it's too big, too eccentric, and too impenetrable to be truly understood. As well as visiting every corner of the island, John Gimlette journeys deep into Madagascar's past. Along the way, he meets politicians, sorcerers, gem prospectors, militiamen, rioters, lepers and the descendants of seventeenth-century pirates. Insightful and wryly humorous, here's an encounter with the people, landscapes, politics and history of one of the most remarkable places on Earth.
464 pages, Paperback
First published January 7, 2021
40 people are currently reading
308 people want to read
About the author
John Gimlette
7 books36 followersJohn Gimlette was born in 1963. At seventeen, he crossed the Soviet Union by train and has since travelled to over 60 countries. In 1982, on the eve of the Falklands War, he was working on an estancia in Argentina. He returned to England via Paraguay and Bolivia to read law at Cambridge.
In 1997, he won the Shiva Naipaul Memorial Prize with ‘Pink Pigs in Paraguay’, which was published in The Spectator in May of that year. The following year he won the Wanderlust Travel Writing competition.
He is a regular contributor to a number of British broadsheets, including The Daily Telegraph, Times and The Guardian travel sections. He also contributes to other travel titles, including the Conde Nast Traveller and Wanderlust. His travel photographs have appeared in the Telegraph, Wanderlust and Geographical.
His first book was At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig, which is described as a 'vivid, riotous journey into the heart of South America' (see the Reviews page). His second book, Theatre of Fish, set in Newfoundland and Labrador, was published in 2005.
Both books were nominated by The New York Times as being among the ‘100 Notable Books of the Year’.
John Gimlette’s third book was Panther Soup, which followed a wartime journey through France, Germany and Austria, comparing the battlefields of 1944-45 with what can be found there today.
He lives in London where he practices as a barrister. He is married to TV presenter, Jayne Constantinis, and they have one daughter.
In 1997, he won the Shiva Naipaul Memorial Prize with ‘Pink Pigs in Paraguay’, which was published in The Spectator in May of that year. The following year he won the Wanderlust Travel Writing competition.
He is a regular contributor to a number of British broadsheets, including The Daily Telegraph, Times and The Guardian travel sections. He also contributes to other travel titles, including the Conde Nast Traveller and Wanderlust. His travel photographs have appeared in the Telegraph, Wanderlust and Geographical.
His first book was At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig, which is described as a 'vivid, riotous journey into the heart of South America' (see the Reviews page). His second book, Theatre of Fish, set in Newfoundland and Labrador, was published in 2005.
Both books were nominated by The New York Times as being among the ‘100 Notable Books of the Year’.
John Gimlette’s third book was Panther Soup, which followed a wartime journey through France, Germany and Austria, comparing the battlefields of 1944-45 with what can be found there today.
He lives in London where he practices as a barrister. He is married to TV presenter, Jayne Constantinis, and they have one daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 18, 2021
Having been a frequent visitor to Jersey and the zoo there for the past thirty years, the first thing that always comes to mind when I hear about Madagascar is lemurs. These fine creatures are a relative of the monkey that were separated when the landmass drifted away from the African continent and they evolved separately. The other thing that comes to mind is that exotic fruit of the orchid, vanilla. Apart from that, I knew almost nothing else about the place.
It is a unique place and huge too. It is the fourth largest island on the planet and if it was overlaid on Europe, it would stretch from London to Algiers. It had split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago and a lot of the creatures and wildlife evolved in isolation so over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on our planet. It is largely undeveloped at the moment and only has a small number of metaled roads, the rest often end up as quagmire.
It is a place that John Gimlette had been to before, but he was here again for three months to see what made the place tick. He arrived in the capital, Antananarivo in the middle of an outbreak of bubonic plague. It was sobering stuff, but he then hears that it is a regular occurrence and doesn’t affect many people and then other rumours saying that it was nothing and the government had done very nicely out of the donations from other countries. The city is 4000 feet up in the highlands and to him, it sometimes feels like a slightly sleepy town in the middle of France and at other time a bustling Asian slum. He heads out every day into a different part of the city, walking the streets to get a feel for the character of the place. He is not trying to get lost and if he is a little disorientated then glancing up to see where the Rova, the burnt-out palace, helps hi find his way again.
Heading out of the city, he is keen to see more of the countryside, though it is described as being like the 12th Century is certain places. It is not quite the badlands out there, but he hears stories of the Vazimba, the super ancestors and ghosts that blur the lines between history and myth and are said to inhabit every dark corner, waiting for revenge. Like the people who first inhabited this island and how they got there from across the Indian ocean, it is a mystery that makes little sense.
I was suddenly very happy to be here, wherever I was. All In knew was that I’d reached the very end of Madagascar (although at that moment, it felt like the end of the earth).
The south-west of the country feel like the wild west, it is sparsely populated and ahs been under the control of various warring tribes. There is only one town of any size, Toliara, and it suffers from droughts, scorpions, locusts, termites and even the plants are spiky. He was warned about going, but it seemed to be the right thing to do. The people in the town seemed remarkably happy, probably as the rainy season had finished and they had dry weather for the next six months. They do suffer from raids by the malaso, gangs that steal everything from the locals who had precious little to start with anyway.
Back in the 1680s St Mary’s Island, just off Madagascar was home to around 1000 gangsters and criminals; under normal circumstances, it would be full of Europeans sitting on the beach until it was time to travel back home again. It doesn’t quite feel like the mainland either, he is one moment eating a roast crab and is then whisked off to visit the dead with his guide, Fidele or to see a shrine of several hundred pens, created by students seeking luck in their exams.
It is a strange country. He had got used to it after being there for a while, but when his is joined by his wife and daughter on the wonderfully named island of Nosy Be. They watched in silent disbelief as hey passed fishermen singing as they worked and saw naked men cupping their balls in one hand whilst waving with the other. It never seemed to make sense, but then neither did it have to.
Sometimes in Madagascar you wonder whether it is you going mad, or everyone else.
I have read Wild Coast by John Gimlette a while ago now and thought it was an excellent book about Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. This is a part of the world that very few people know little about. He takes on Madagascar in a similar way, taking the time to get to know the places, history and most of all the people of this vast island and this book is as excellent as Wild Coast. He does not pass judgement on the people and their activities, rather choosing to observe and then try to make sense of things as he writes them down. He writes in such a way that you feel alongside him being bumped along in the same car, walking the dunes as the sun sets, or chuckling at the street names in the town together. It is a beautifully produced book too, scattered throughout are excellent photos of the island landscape, significant places that he visited and most importantly the people of this fine country. The cover is stunning and I must say it had superb colour maps of the regions that he visits helping put it all in context. A must-read book on Madagascar.
It is a unique place and huge too. It is the fourth largest island on the planet and if it was overlaid on Europe, it would stretch from London to Algiers. It had split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago and a lot of the creatures and wildlife evolved in isolation so over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on our planet. It is largely undeveloped at the moment and only has a small number of metaled roads, the rest often end up as quagmire.
It is a place that John Gimlette had been to before, but he was here again for three months to see what made the place tick. He arrived in the capital, Antananarivo in the middle of an outbreak of bubonic plague. It was sobering stuff, but he then hears that it is a regular occurrence and doesn’t affect many people and then other rumours saying that it was nothing and the government had done very nicely out of the donations from other countries. The city is 4000 feet up in the highlands and to him, it sometimes feels like a slightly sleepy town in the middle of France and at other time a bustling Asian slum. He heads out every day into a different part of the city, walking the streets to get a feel for the character of the place. He is not trying to get lost and if he is a little disorientated then glancing up to see where the Rova, the burnt-out palace, helps hi find his way again.
Heading out of the city, he is keen to see more of the countryside, though it is described as being like the 12th Century is certain places. It is not quite the badlands out there, but he hears stories of the Vazimba, the super ancestors and ghosts that blur the lines between history and myth and are said to inhabit every dark corner, waiting for revenge. Like the people who first inhabited this island and how they got there from across the Indian ocean, it is a mystery that makes little sense.
I was suddenly very happy to be here, wherever I was. All In knew was that I’d reached the very end of Madagascar (although at that moment, it felt like the end of the earth).
The south-west of the country feel like the wild west, it is sparsely populated and ahs been under the control of various warring tribes. There is only one town of any size, Toliara, and it suffers from droughts, scorpions, locusts, termites and even the plants are spiky. He was warned about going, but it seemed to be the right thing to do. The people in the town seemed remarkably happy, probably as the rainy season had finished and they had dry weather for the next six months. They do suffer from raids by the malaso, gangs that steal everything from the locals who had precious little to start with anyway.
Back in the 1680s St Mary’s Island, just off Madagascar was home to around 1000 gangsters and criminals; under normal circumstances, it would be full of Europeans sitting on the beach until it was time to travel back home again. It doesn’t quite feel like the mainland either, he is one moment eating a roast crab and is then whisked off to visit the dead with his guide, Fidele or to see a shrine of several hundred pens, created by students seeking luck in their exams.
It is a strange country. He had got used to it after being there for a while, but when his is joined by his wife and daughter on the wonderfully named island of Nosy Be. They watched in silent disbelief as hey passed fishermen singing as they worked and saw naked men cupping their balls in one hand whilst waving with the other. It never seemed to make sense, but then neither did it have to.
Sometimes in Madagascar you wonder whether it is you going mad, or everyone else.
I have read Wild Coast by John Gimlette a while ago now and thought it was an excellent book about Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. This is a part of the world that very few people know little about. He takes on Madagascar in a similar way, taking the time to get to know the places, history and most of all the people of this vast island and this book is as excellent as Wild Coast. He does not pass judgement on the people and their activities, rather choosing to observe and then try to make sense of things as he writes them down. He writes in such a way that you feel alongside him being bumped along in the same car, walking the dunes as the sun sets, or chuckling at the street names in the town together. It is a beautifully produced book too, scattered throughout are excellent photos of the island landscape, significant places that he visited and most importantly the people of this fine country. The cover is stunning and I must say it had superb colour maps of the regions that he visits helping put it all in context. A must-read book on Madagascar.
December 31, 2022
Interesting, informative, well written. Something about the book irritates me though. It is a sense of emotional distance and a habit of emphasising the curious and the bizarre. References are made to homeless children or sexually exploited girls for example, but more attention is given to odd customs and curious historical anecdotes. It's as though Gimlette is seeing the place and its people through a telescope or Google street view, despite clearly making an effort to immerse himself.
The closest we get to emotion is when his daughter visits and witnesses impoverished girls being sexually exploited by Western men. We get hard facts, we get a discussion with someone working to try and address injustice, we get speculation about what his daughter thinks of it all. But all it amounts to is bemusement, not rage or disgust or guilt or anything much. Perhaps I'm naive, perhaps Gimlette is jaded or just too intellectual to express such emotions.
The closest we get to emotion is when his daughter visits and witnesses impoverished girls being sexually exploited by Western men. We get hard facts, we get a discussion with someone working to try and address injustice, we get speculation about what his daughter thinks of it all. But all it amounts to is bemusement, not rage or disgust or guilt or anything much. Perhaps I'm naive, perhaps Gimlette is jaded or just too intellectual to express such emotions.
February 13, 2022
Madagascar in our collective memory is either a hollywood movie or the place where lemurs live. But in this book ,the reader gets to know much more about Madagascar especially the Malagasy people.
John Gimlette books are big and take a lot of time to read, but just like Thubron and Theroux,he makes us see Madagascar in detail, always focusing on the people living there.
The only problem I found is the frequent usage of French with the sentences not being translated into English.
I will conclude the review by commenting that it is a good book about Madagascar and is a must read if one wants to expand his vision of Madagascar beyond lemur-country.
John Gimlette books are big and take a lot of time to read, but just like Thubron and Theroux,he makes us see Madagascar in detail, always focusing on the people living there.
The only problem I found is the frequent usage of French with the sentences not being translated into English.
I will conclude the review by commenting that it is a good book about Madagascar and is a must read if one wants to expand his vision of Madagascar beyond lemur-country.
August 13, 2022
I really wanted to like this book. I really wanted to read the entire thing... I couldn't get through the first chapter. It was dull and capturing any interest in the rest of the book.
January 1, 2022
A witty, erudite, although not patronising, tour through one of the least known countries in the world - Madagascar. I've flown over it a few times and seen the curious rocky outcrops of the tsingy but have never read any descriptions of it until now. Mr Gimlette has produced a book that is informative and entertaining.
July 12, 2024
Kind of like a Bourdain episode in book format, with more detail and fewer visuals. Since he’s essentially travel writing here, more pictures would’ve been appreciated. However, he does do the country’s people and history justice with thorough description and context in a way that isn’t boring.
January 29, 2022
Beautifully written, with a wry sense of humour, this book captures the spirit of a very strange, huge and mostly forgotten place. I have visited Madagascar three times but very much felt I hadn’t scratched the surface so was very grateful for this book. Gimlette’s thorough and bold exploration of an often-dangerous and uncomfortable giant island is a heady mix of its history and current state. Its history is turbulent, extremely violent, and often bizarre with a spectrum of foreign interventions that only fuelled more conflict and cruelty. Today, the country is one of the poorest on earth but has super-fast internet speeds - just one of many of incongruent juxtapositions. A recurring theme (alien to a Westerner) is the importance of the dead to Malagasys - they live in close awareness of the ghosts of the past and in terror of upsetting them - a central pillar of their culture. Corruption and conflict between the many tribes seem to be other constants. Despite a relentless description of all manner of horror and deprivation in all corners of Madagascar, Gimlette assures the reader that Malagasys are the happiest on earth. While this book left me much better informed, my overall impression of Madagascar did not shift at all. It is a mystifying, horrifying and alluring paradox.
July 29, 2021
I knew three things about Madagascar before reading this book: it was settled from the east — across the Indian ocean from southeast Asia — rather than from nearby Africa; it contains an incredible array of unique flora and fauna (including lemurs — thank you second year Anthropology); and I knew about the coelacanth from a 1990's Volkswagen commercial.
But I had no idea the island was riddled with ghosts, crawling with cattle rustlers, and seething in optimism.
John Gimlette gets to every corner of this fascinating country, and touches on every era of its history.
The Gardens of Mars is sure to make my 'best books' list this year. Highly recommended.
But I had no idea the island was riddled with ghosts, crawling with cattle rustlers, and seething in optimism.
John Gimlette gets to every corner of this fascinating country, and touches on every era of its history.
The Gardens of Mars is sure to make my 'best books' list this year. Highly recommended.
January 9, 2023
This is the third book I have read by John Gimlette, mainly because he seems to have a knack for writing about places that few others approach. It is full of fascinating details about Madagascar yet I finished the book feeling that I could have learned more. It feels more like a history than a travel book but is arranged chronologically. It also feels like Gimlette aims to maintain a neutrality in his writing that I found frustrating. Much of what he observes or writes about surely provoked stronger reactions than those on display in the text. I also found elements of the way he wrote about the issue of child prostitution quite jarring.
June 17, 2022
The most miscellaneous and irrelevant book I've ever read. Not quite memoir, not quite history, not quite political commentary, this book is somewhat stream-of-consciousness as it bounces between these genres. The hyperbolic witticisms are initially very entertaining, but get tiresome after the third chapter. Not sure why the book was recommended to me, and I can't think of anyone I would recommend this book to.
July 2, 2023
I suppose if I'm completely honest reading is the second big love of my life. I know I know but what can you do, travel has such a hold on my heart that I will take pretty much any opportunity to do it. Now sometimes that is small and other times that means jumping on a plane and flying off to some exotic location. I enjoy immersing myself into the local culture and especially the food of any given region. The thing is Im not one of those people who can go and sit on a beach for five days and then come back. I want to know about the history of a place and why it is the way it is when I have come to find myself there. So that's where the reading comes in. Finding books that can educate me on a partial location always feel my heart with joy. Now as of this moment, I have no plans to be flying off to Madagascar. But when I came across this book I realized that most of my idea of this place was based on an animated movie. Which let be honest whilst it is funny really isn't the best at telling you anything about the country itself at all. So I figure it was probably as good a time as any to try and learn a little bit more about this amazing place.
Now it would be safe to say the author has not tackled the writing of this book like most. Rather than sitting at home with piles of sources and bashing out a complete history of the island, he rather went there and placed his boots firmly on the ground. Right off the bat, we have a slight diversion from the norm. This book then becomes part history of Madagascar and part travel guide. For me, I think it really brings this book to life as he talks about the landscapes he travels through and also the people he meets along the way. It helps to give a connection to this island's past and goes a long way toward explaining why and how the island has become what it is today. And I suppose it also changes the way that this book feels like to read. It comes across more like one of those great breeds of new travel shows where they place far more emphasis on explaining about a country rather than just hitting these great holiday spots and never really knowing anything about a place. And for me, that is the real joy of going anyway.
Gimlette has really done a great job of delivering a fun and informative narrative when it comes to the history of Madagascar. Each section is broken down into a specific part of the island and with that we get to learn about the people who inhabit it but also how it ties into the history of the island as a whole. In fairness, I had no idea how much bigger it was than the island I call home. But I guess that goes back to the point that most world maps don't show places in their true size. But here it works well in taking a great deal of information about this country and breaking it down into something that is much easier to take in. He captivates you with these amazing tales of kings and queens of the past and invading forces from places close and far from this island. So by the end, I was safe in the knowledge that whilst I may not be able to recite endless remes about this amazing country I would be able to say that I knew more than a film was ever going to tell me. And in all honesty, I think this book taught me how little I know about that part of the world. And whilst I did feel about that I remind myself that is why I read so I can feel in these blanks and give myself a much great idea of this spinning rock we all call home
If you have ever found yourself curious about this amazing place be that from a film or one of Sir David Attenborough's documentaries then I reckon this book might just be a joy to read. It will fill in those high blanks in your knowledge. And for modern-day visitors, it will show a place beyond the holiday resorts and flashy breakfast buffets. It gives us a history that for most people probably doesn't even cross their minds. After all it's an island off the coast of Africa that at first glance appears to have had no standing in any major world events. But never the less holds a history just as unique as its amazing wildlife.
Now it would be safe to say the author has not tackled the writing of this book like most. Rather than sitting at home with piles of sources and bashing out a complete history of the island, he rather went there and placed his boots firmly on the ground. Right off the bat, we have a slight diversion from the norm. This book then becomes part history of Madagascar and part travel guide. For me, I think it really brings this book to life as he talks about the landscapes he travels through and also the people he meets along the way. It helps to give a connection to this island's past and goes a long way toward explaining why and how the island has become what it is today. And I suppose it also changes the way that this book feels like to read. It comes across more like one of those great breeds of new travel shows where they place far more emphasis on explaining about a country rather than just hitting these great holiday spots and never really knowing anything about a place. And for me, that is the real joy of going anyway.
Gimlette has really done a great job of delivering a fun and informative narrative when it comes to the history of Madagascar. Each section is broken down into a specific part of the island and with that we get to learn about the people who inhabit it but also how it ties into the history of the island as a whole. In fairness, I had no idea how much bigger it was than the island I call home. But I guess that goes back to the point that most world maps don't show places in their true size. But here it works well in taking a great deal of information about this country and breaking it down into something that is much easier to take in. He captivates you with these amazing tales of kings and queens of the past and invading forces from places close and far from this island. So by the end, I was safe in the knowledge that whilst I may not be able to recite endless remes about this amazing country I would be able to say that I knew more than a film was ever going to tell me. And in all honesty, I think this book taught me how little I know about that part of the world. And whilst I did feel about that I remind myself that is why I read so I can feel in these blanks and give myself a much great idea of this spinning rock we all call home
If you have ever found yourself curious about this amazing place be that from a film or one of Sir David Attenborough's documentaries then I reckon this book might just be a joy to read. It will fill in those high blanks in your knowledge. And for modern-day visitors, it will show a place beyond the holiday resorts and flashy breakfast buffets. It gives us a history that for most people probably doesn't even cross their minds. After all it's an island off the coast of Africa that at first glance appears to have had no standing in any major world events. But never the less holds a history just as unique as its amazing wildlife.
April 18, 2025
An amazing book about an amazing place. In the late 1990’s, author Gimlette toured Madagascar with his pregnant wife. As he describes the trip, “We flew everywhere, and I returned home realizing how little I’d understood.” Twenty years later he decided to see as much of the country as possible on a three-month trek. In 2018, he roamed the less-traveled regions of the vast island and interacted with nearly all eighteen of the major tribes.
Each chapter includes a history lesson of the region featuring a rogue’s gallery of kings and queens, pirates and sorcerers, bandits and assassins, greedy opportunists and hapless victims. The cast of characters includes the Queens Ranavalona (I, II & III), Jean Laborde, and James Cameron, to name a few.
Highly recommended, especially for those contemplating a visit to the so-called eighth continent. I explored Madagascar for two weeks in April 2025, and the perspective offered by Gimlette’s book greatly added to the richness of my experience.
Each chapter includes a history lesson of the region featuring a rogue’s gallery of kings and queens, pirates and sorcerers, bandits and assassins, greedy opportunists and hapless victims. The cast of characters includes the Queens Ranavalona (I, II & III), Jean Laborde, and James Cameron, to name a few.
Highly recommended, especially for those contemplating a visit to the so-called eighth continent. I explored Madagascar for two weeks in April 2025, and the perspective offered by Gimlette’s book greatly added to the richness of my experience.
October 23, 2025
I enjoyed Gimlette’s book on Paraguay, so I thought this would be in a similar vein. It was. But it was even weirder.
I felt like the whole book was a fever dream. Gimlette sits calmly in the eye of a virtual hurricane. At times it seemed like he was touring an obscene Dr. Seuss book come to life. Other times it was King’s The Dark Tower. The landscape, the wildlife, the people. The fact that no humans lived in Madagascar until relatively recently and that they came from Indonesia? In canoes? It isn’t that far fetched given the great lengths Polynesians migrated in the last few thousand years (in the opposite direction) but it was news to me.
Overall, Madagascar seems a fascinating place, but I didn’t finish the book with a great desire to visit. In just the last few weeks, the government was overthrown in a coup, which seems like a continuance of the chaos Gimlette portrays.
I felt like the whole book was a fever dream. Gimlette sits calmly in the eye of a virtual hurricane. At times it seemed like he was touring an obscene Dr. Seuss book come to life. Other times it was King’s The Dark Tower. The landscape, the wildlife, the people. The fact that no humans lived in Madagascar until relatively recently and that they came from Indonesia? In canoes? It isn’t that far fetched given the great lengths Polynesians migrated in the last few thousand years (in the opposite direction) but it was news to me.
Overall, Madagascar seems a fascinating place, but I didn’t finish the book with a great desire to visit. In just the last few weeks, the government was overthrown in a coup, which seems like a continuance of the chaos Gimlette portrays.
August 19, 2024
The works of Dervla Murphy and Gerald Durrell, so long the benchmarks for writing about Madagascar, have been surpassed by this brilliant book by John Gimlette. Gimlette has a happy knack of making the past seem vividly alive, which is fortunate, as this book is more history than travelogue. Not only does he use the contemporary reports of the time to flesh out Madagascar's sometimes brutal history, he also visits historically significant locations and talks to the locals, getting their perspective of the events that shaped, and continue to shape, their country. Through research, interview and observation, he weaves an engaging and highly readable picture of how Madagascar became the country it is today.
September 3, 2024
“Until now the problem for trade had always been one of nerves. In such a coup-prone country, nobody wanted to invest in structures or put down roots. It was said that even the garment factories could be packed up and gone within 48 hours.
But the Internet was changing all that. Fiber optics had brought Madagascar into the chatter, and it now had the fastest speeds in Africa. ‘Far faster than anything in Wales,’ moaned a missionary I once met.
There were now nearly two million users, almost all of them signed up to Facebook. That’s an intriguing thought in a country where you can still eat a Chameleon killed with a spear.”
What a country. What a sad story of senseless violence, death, and destruction, but perhaps, now, for the first time ever… hope.
But the Internet was changing all that. Fiber optics had brought Madagascar into the chatter, and it now had the fastest speeds in Africa. ‘Far faster than anything in Wales,’ moaned a missionary I once met.
There were now nearly two million users, almost all of them signed up to Facebook. That’s an intriguing thought in a country where you can still eat a Chameleon killed with a spear.”
What a country. What a sad story of senseless violence, death, and destruction, but perhaps, now, for the first time ever… hope.
October 3, 2023
This is a fantastic account, basically a travelogue of the island strung onto an account of its history, of Madagascar as a place where humans live rather than as a stage set larger than France where endemic species play out their roles for the BBC Natural History Unit.
It’s a pretty horrific history, tyrant after tyrant demonstrating that you can murder by the ten thousand using rudimentary spears as late as while Brahms was composing on the other side of the world. And it’s a history of incredible isolation, on an island with Switzerland-grade geological barriers and far from Switzerland-grade financing to overcome them.
It’s a pretty horrific history, tyrant after tyrant demonstrating that you can murder by the ten thousand using rudimentary spears as late as while Brahms was composing on the other side of the world. And it’s a history of incredible isolation, on an island with Switzerland-grade geological barriers and far from Switzerland-grade financing to overcome them.
October 17, 2025
A beautifully written book, and a fascinating set of insights into the mysterious (to me) island of Madagascar. Gimlette is an extraordinarily talented writer with a rare gift for the arresting metaphor. The Gardens of Mars had the odd effect, unlike almost every other travel book I've ever read, of making me decide NOT to visit Madagascar. Read it to find out why -- or to see if it strikes you the same way.
February 1, 2022
Really enjoyed this book. One of those travel writers who really informs you about a place. Well written and erudite. Good to have a travel book which is so full of maps. Made me realise that I really only saw the most touristy parts of the country when I visited only Tana section brought back memories.
January 20, 2024
I had a rough start with Gimlette's style, which at first sounded like that awful, British colonialist, mocking-of anything- uncomfortably impoverished voice. At last, I came to believe that was not his intended tone. And, I did appreciate his efforts to gather information in a very dangerous place.
May 1, 2024
If you are truly interested in the history of Madagascar, you may enjoy this book more than I did, but I felt like it was homework and I wasn’t completely in the mood for it. That being said, I do feel like I learned a lot and it mixes together history, mythology, and recent events to weave together a very comprehensive book that helps the reader understand a lot of aspects of Madagascar.
August 15, 2021
A really interesting travel log. The author does a nice job chronicling his experiences without overwhelming the subject. He does a very good job with the history by spacing it out throughout the book. His subject was fascinating which aided his writing.
March 4, 2022
Beautiful language, a nice blend of historical background, local myth, depictions of the environment and people and the authors own experience visiting Madagascar. Thoroughly enjoyable read for any armchair traveler.
March 4, 2022
5 stars because it so well-written and comprehensive even if some of the detail was more than I can retain. More history than travelogue. Really informative about the constant battery of colonisers and coups. Less lemur, more real life
June 19, 2022
Fascinating, thoroughly enjoyable and informative, in many ways revealing yet still leaving enough mystery to inspire the reader to travel to Madagascar themselves. Looking forward to reading other books by John Gimlette, he's my kind of traveller.
August 19, 2025
It is nice to read a book about a less known country. The book intermingles current activities from the writer with historic events.
For me as a non native speaker the english was not easy to follow. I would understand if a native speaker would love his use of language.
For me as a non native speaker the english was not easy to follow. I would understand if a native speaker would love his use of language.
February 2, 2021
Travel with John is great adventure. One of best travel books I recently read. Thank you John!
July 23, 2022
An interesting travel and history tour of Madagascar. Draft a bit at the end
December 15, 2022
Very interesting, although I had to take breaks an read something else from time to time.
September 5, 2024
I really liked this book, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you haven’t been to Madagascar: you wouldn’t believe the stories. 😬🙈
September 15, 2024
Sent me down a days-long video binge watching footage of this island, which is massive & has been basically unconquerable. It is a gorgeous and thrilling place. Russia will take it soon.
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