An intrepid, humorous Hungarian hunter-collector, Kalman Kittenberger offers one of the most heartstopping, charming, and funny accounts of adventure in the Kenya Colony ever penned--a diamond of reality in a field full of sensationalist writing. Illustrated.

Frederick Courteney Selous (1851-1917) was a British explorer, hunter and conservationist, and is most remembered for his activities in Southeast Africa. Selous explored lesser-known areas, where he recorded ethnographic notes and collected specimens. ‘Big Game Shooting’, published in 1894, is an anecdotal account that chronicles his experiences of hunting the lion in South Africa, and offers a personal insight into late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century game hunting practices. It would suit anyone with an interest in the culture of hunting from that period, from the historian to the enthusiast. This vintage text is being republished in a high quality, modern and affordable edition, complete with the original artwork and a specially written concise biography.

THIS small volume contains some of the letters I have received during the last thirty years or more from well-known big-game hunters and field-naturalists, many of whom have now passed away. They were so interesting to me that I thought they might interest others who have shot in wilder Africa. Moreover, they describe conditions which are no longer possible considering the way many parts of that continent have been opened up since the Great War. Whether the spread of a so-called civilization is a good thing I do not wish to discuss, but I know there are many men, including myself, who would prefer the older times when things were less complicated and conventional. Many people are now going in for photography more than shooting, and in a way this is a good thing as it will naturally help to conserve the game. It is, however, a much less risky amusement to take animals’ pictures—I mean dangerous animals—than to try to kill them, for game such as lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros are seldom dangerous until they are wounded and followed up in thick cover. Some people may doubt this statement, but it is nevertheless true, as all experienced hunters can vouch.

As thrilling as any novel, as taut and exciting as any adventure story, Peter Hathaway Capstick’s Death in the Long Grass takes us deep into the heart of darkness to view Africa through the eyes of one of the most renowned professional hunters. Few men can say they have known Africa as Capstick has known it—leading safaris through lion country; tracking man-eating leopards along tangled jungle paths; running for cover as fear-maddened elephants stampede in all directions. And of the few who have known this dangerous way of life, fewer still can recount their adventures with the flair of this former professional hunter-turned-writer. Based on Capstick’s own experiences and the personal accounts of his colleagues, Death in the Long Grassportrays the great killers of the African bush—not only the lion, leopard, and elephant, but the primitive rhino and the crocodile waiting for its unsuspecting prey, the titanic hippo and the Cape buffalo charging like an express train out of control. Capstick was a born raconteur whose colorful descriptions and eye for exciting, authentic detail bring us face to face with some of the most ferocious killers in the world—underrated killers like the surprisingly brave and cunning hyena, silent killers such as the lightning-fast black mamba snake, collective killers like the wild dog. Readers can lean back in a chair, sip a tall, iced drink, and revel in the kinds of hunting stories Hemingway and Ruark used to hear in hotel bars from Nairobi to Johannesburg, as veteran hunters would tell of what they heard beyond the campfire and saw through the sights of an express rifle.