I'm trying to (re)-build my library a little at a time since I lost all my books. I only had one P.H. Capstick book, Death in the Long Grass, but I enjoyed reading it and always wanted more of his writings.



If you wouldn't mind, I would like your opinions and suggestions. In addition to voting for your top favorite, feel free to comment on your #2, #3... etc. below.

[Depending on how this goes, I thought about putting up a separate poll later for Robert Ruark and J.A. Hunter.]

Thanks!

Question:
What is your favorite Peter Hathaway Capstick book?

Choices:
Death in the Dark Continent
The Man-Eaters of Tsavo
Death in the Dark Continent
The African Adventurers: A Return to the Silence Places
African Game Trails: An account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Naturalist
Death in the Long Grass
Peter Captick’s Africa: A Return to The Long Grass
Death in a Lonely Land: More Hunting, Fishing, and Shooting in Five Continents
The Last Ivory Hunter
Last Horizons: Hunting, Fishing & Shooting in Five Continents
Sands of Silence: On Safari in Namibia
Death in the Silent Places
Safari: the Last Adventure
Warrior: The Legend of Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen
After Big Game in Central Africa

 

I believe Man-Eaters of Tsavo is by J. Patterson...

All the "Death in..." books are fairly similar in my opinion.
The one about Wally Johnson was interesting, indeed!

"Safari" was the 1st one I read and really sparked my interest in doing a safari (and in the books by PHC!).

- Lars/Finland

The problem with ranking them is one not all of the titles in his collection were written by him and two they aren't all of the same genra. Rather apples to oranges. I wrote a critic/summary of his books I've read on another post. I'll try to find it.

Brett

Here it is! I would add in addition to this The Hunting Imparitive by Richard Harland. It's a great modern elephant hunting read from a true master!

Brett

"Shootaway

He has many books of many types. The only other work of his that is the same type of book as "Death In The Long Grass" is "Death In The Dark Continent". I don't know if it is as good as or better than "Death In The Long Grass", but it is a good read none the less.

"Warrior" and "The Last Ivory Hunter" are two biographies of men who spent a great deal of time in Africa. Both are excellent reads and I would highly recommend them.

"The Last Ivory Hunter" is about Wally Johnson and is hunting focused. Wally was Fred Bear's PH in Mozambique as well as one of the last ivory hunters as the name of the book implies.

"Warrior" is about Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen who could be described as nothing less than a "stud". This book is not hunting centered so don't expect it to be. It is about the Colonel's childhood (which contained hunting) and his latter exploits mainly during WWI, but spanning until Israel's independence. I would highly recommend this book!

"Death In The Silent Places" and "The African Adventures" are both a collection of chapter by chapter biographies/stories so to speak. They features mostly men from Africa with Sasha Seimel the famous jaguar hunter and Jim Corbett a first order hunter and writer (read him if you have not). They are wonderful reads and I would recommend them. He also covers other greats like Patterson, Selous, Sutherland, Ionides, Boyes, and Bell. These are both good books to introduce an African literature novice to other Greats of African literature. Quite a few if not all of the African greats mentioned in these books have written books themselves or been written about extensively and most of these books are classics.

"Peter Capstick's Africa" is so-so overall with a nail biting narration of his lion hunt with PH Gordon Cundill in Botswana.

"Death In A Lonely Land" is another good read. It is a collection of articles he wrote for different magazines (I think). The stories range from water buffalo hunting, jaguar hunting, and pig sticking in South America to baboons with a Mac 10 and other African tails.

"Safari" is PHC's version on how to prepare for safari and what to expect on safari, so not too exciting.

I have not read "Maneaters".

I have not read "Last Horizons".

I have not read "Sands of Silence".

I have not read "A Man Called Lion". It has been discussed ad nauseum on this forum and I will leave it to you to look it up from previous discussions.

If you would like to read other writers and books here are a few of my favorites:

General African Hunting Books:
"Hunter" J.A. Hunter
"Green Hills of Africa" Ernest Hemingway
"Horn of the Hunter" Robert Ruark
"Safari: A Dangerous Affair" Walter Prothero (repeats himself occasionally but a good read none the less)
"Pondoro" & "Maneaters and Marauders" John Taylor

If you would like to learn more about how African hunting came to be and how it has progressed to where it is today:
"White Hunters" Brian Herne

On Lion:
"Some Lions I Have Met" Gordon Cundill
"The Book of The Lion" Sir Alfred E. Pease

Leopard:
"Into the Thorns" Wayne Grant
I haven't read it, but I hear it is quite authoritative.

Buffalo:
"Horned Death" John Burger

Elephant:
Take your pick! Quite a few new and old.

Rhino:
I have no idea. Some people like Hunter have hunted them extensively, but I have not come across anyone who speaks about them and hunting them extensively or exclusively. You may get a chapter or so here and there, but that's about it.

Brett"

Whiel Capstick's books are entertaining reading, and I did like Death in the Long Grass, I think anything by Ruark is superior. I particularly liked Horn of the Hunter, Use Enough Gun, and if you're getting away from African writing, the Old Man and the Boy.

Some other african books that I've particularly enjoyed include many of the National Sporting Fraternity Books published by Amwell Press. A Game Ranger on Safari is good. Tony Dyer's book, the East African Hunters is excellent. All of their anthologies about African hunting are very good, including the Big Five books, Hunting the African Elephant, Buffalo, Lion, Leopard are all good reads.

If you really feel like spending some money, go get a first edition of WDM Bell's Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter.

Wow! Thanks everyone for your replies. I am thoroughly enjoying your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks again!

Some of the book on your list were written by Capstick, the others were part of the "Capstick Collection". They were written by others but recommended by him.

True, dogcat. I liked the Last Ivory Hunter about the exploits of Wally Johnson.

I enjoyed Maneaters but I will say that when I cited the book for a paper I wrote in college the professor really let the red ink fly. I believe I got a "C" on it and the part of the paper that I used Capstick for was hit particularly hard.

With that being said, I still enjoy Capstick thoroughly. For entertainment he is second to none. I wish that he was still around.

When my wife and I first got the idea to hunt Africa she bought a couple of PHC books. One was Death in The Long Grass and Safari: The Last Adventure. I picked up "Safari" one night and read the whole book, I just couldn't put it down. As was totally hooked from that night on. JC

quote:

Originally posted by rxgremlin:
I enjoyed Maneaters but I will say that when I cited the book for a paper I wrote in college the professor really let the red ink fly. I believe I got a "C" on it and the part of the paper that I used Capstick for was hit particularly hard.

Hahaha!! I had a similar situation in high school from a clearly anti-hunting English teacher. So much for "objectivity"!

Thanks again, everyone, for the comments. It is certainly help me narrow down my first selection of used books. (The new ones, if they can be found still, just don't have the personality of a book with ragged edges and a story to tell of its own).

Is there a reason this thread is here instead of the Books and Videos site on this forum?

Bill Quimby

I believe I have read almost all of the books on the poll.All of them are worth the time.

I have read all his books, Death In The Long Grass was the one which got me into Africa.

Capstick has a lot to answer for. He is guilty of me spending well over a million dollars on Africa, and there is no sign that my spending is going to stop.

Has anyone read "Sand in the Wind" by Kieth Meadows? this book was published in 1997 out of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It is fictional. My first PH gave me a signed copy of the book at the conclusion of my first safari. It is an outstanding read and more than anything captures the essence,lure and mystique if you will of the Africa I wish I could have experienced...published bt thorntree press.

Thanks for posting that again,Brett!

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
Thanks for posting that again,Brett!

No problem! I would also add Terry Wielands Dangerous Game Rifles. It's a great book on the subject. I would imagine Craig Boddington's book Safari Rifles 2 would be similarly authoritative, but I have not read it YET.

Brett

To me Capstick was at his best when he wrote about Wally Johnson and John Taylor. I liked his research, perspective, and background information. I wish he had done more books like this.

They are all my favorites, if it has Peter H Capstick's name on it, I would buy it!!!

As of last Friday, there is now a copy of Death in the Long Grass in Andrew McLaren's guest bungalow nightstand. It sparked my safari fire many moons ago. I hope the next guy enjoys it and hunting with Andrew as much as i did...

quote:

Sands of Silence: On Safari in Namibia

Death in the Long Grass was my favorite.

Sands of Silence: On Safari in Namibia was my least favorite.

I have about half of the PHC collection so far.

GeoffM24, I would agree. The Last Ivory hunter and A Man Called Lion are good, but I prefer Boddington, Flack and York. I really enjoyed A Pioneering Hunter and Baron in Africa by Brian Marsh.

For reference Boddingtons Safari Rifles and Search For The Spiarial Horn are just unbeatable.

quote:

Originally posted by Die Ou Jagter:
GeoffM24, I would agree. The Last Ivory hunter and A Man Called Lion are good, but I prefer Boddington, Flack and York. I really enjoyed A Pioneering Hunter and Baron in Africa by Brian Marsh.

For reference Boddingtons Safari Rifles and Search For The Spiarial Horn are just unbeatable.

Die,
YOu and I agree again. The world must be coming to an end...

Naw dogcat, you are getting better with age.

True, maybe a bit more mellow as well...
Certain things are not quite worth the worry and bother these days...

"The Last Zombie Hunter, Tex Grebner In The Short Grass."



Dutch

Come on Dutch, haven't you seen we are cutting the kid some slack. We are assuming he has come on board with open eyes, ears and mind.

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch44:
"The Last Zombie Hunter, Tex Grebner In The Short Grass."

Dutch

Thanks a lot, Dutch. I knew "The Last Zombie Hunter" sounded pretty check-the-closet-and-under-the-bed-before-going-to-sleep scary, but reluctantly I did Google "Tex Gebner" on your recommendation.

Unfortunately, I think only rot-gut homemade vodka has resulted in a faster loss of brain cells for me. Well, except the time I spent with a Missouri girl from St. Louis.

Potentially derailing the usefulness of this thread, here's a link to one of the 187 equally enlightening videos by Tex Gebner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=channel_page

Aparently, he is also an authoritative figure on African video reviews. I can't believe he gives away all this information away for free. I made it as far as the point where he states, "For less than 5 packs of cigarettes, which is how I measure my money, you can own it."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...feature=channel_page

Again, thanks Dutch.

=============================================

To everyone else, thank you for keeping this thread alive. I have compiled an impressive "to-buy" book list. Thank you!

Wilbur Smith writes great African based fiction.

Mea Culpa, Die ou, sometimes I let my smartassness override tactfulness. I welcome Tex aboard AR.

Kenati, I married a Missouri girl from St. Louis but, fortunately, kept my cells together for the time being, going on 32 years next month.

Dutch