NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40645
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Has anyone looked at or bought this book? What did you think?
Hunting the Dangerous Game of Africa (Hardcover)
by John Kingsley-Heath "In 1949, when I was stationed in Tanga, a small port on the northeast coast of Tanganyika-now Tanzania-as a district officer for the provincial administration,..."
Book Description
The story of the author's life as a professional huner and conservationist in East Africa. He recounts many of his greatest hunts, biggest trophies, narrowest escapes and liveliest campfire tales.
From the Publisher
Arguably the best big-game book ever written!
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Comments per Amazon.
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John aka NitroX
 ...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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EricD
.416 member
Reged: 27/02/04
Posts: 4636
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I bought it back in 99(?) and found it an interesting book that I'm glad I have in my bookshelf. It's been a few years since I read it, but I seem to recall that he devided the book up with different species, which was then sub devided with stories on the various countries where he had hunted them. Including a lot of countries where hunting is no longer possible. There was a reasonable amount of fact pages too, although they aren't really up to date.
I think it's a high quality book with lots of pictures and interesting stories from the "old days". The price was pretty high though, as far as I remember. But I'd still buy it again. 
Erik
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mikeh416Rigby
.450 member
Reged: 24/02/03
Posts: 6051
Loc: The beautiful Oley Valley, PA....
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I actually bought one of the limited editions of the book when it first came out (copyright 1998). It's #70 of 500, hard covered in leather, slip cased, and signed by John Kingsley-Heath. It sold out in only 3 months.
I found the book to be very well written, and contains a lot of interesting stories and photos of hunting elephant (lots of 100 pounders, black rhino, hippo, lion, leopard and buffalo. I'd buy it again. Any idea what it might be worth today? The trade edition sells for $95.00 U.S. + shipping.
Edited by mikeh416Rigby (17/11/06 02:03 PM)
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500grains
.416 member
Reged: 16/02/04
Posts: 4732
Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah USA
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I have it. Nice photos and interesting. But not as interesting as the fabricated stories in PHC books!
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40645
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Gentlemen,
Thanks for the comments. On Amazon the reviews were luke-warm or worse so if the price is right it might be a worthwhile addition. Most of the negative review comments centred around things like it had only "old" calibres mentioned in it and none of the newer "whizz-bang" ones. That safari comments and advice were very basic. But if it has some good "old" stories that is nice anyway. Also I am quite partial to 90 year old cartridges as might be guessed. 
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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EricD
.416 member
Reged: 27/02/04
Posts: 4636
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I find Amazon reveiws hard to trust sometimes.
First of all, I don't know what kind of taste the reveiwer has (which might be very different from my own). And as you pointed out, some of the negative things you read were that the cartridges mentioned were lacking the new "whizz-bang" ones. I personally don't see this as a downside, as I have no use for WSM or WSSM or whatever the new ultra short and fat calibres are named, and especially not in Africa!
Also, how do we know if the reveiwer actually knows anything about the topic? Maybe they've never even been to Africa? Or have very limited African hunting experiance for that sake. Maybe their opinions are mainly based on having read other books that don't give a genuine picture of hunting in Africa (Exaggerated stories and so on. I see 500grains mentions the name Capstick...  ).
Finally, I've noticed that some reviewers have what appear to be ulterior motives when writing their reviews. Especially regarding books that are not considered politically correct. Although this would rarely apply to hunting books.
So chances are that you might find more objective reviews elsewhere. Such as right here!
Erik
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