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Originally posted by Anjin:

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Originally posted by craig boddington:
Richard Harland's book is one of the best current books, likewise Ian Nyschen's "Months of the Sun"--I actually edited that book, a really tough job, but what a great story. So I don't have to backtrack, I should say that I do recommend "African Hunter II"--highly--but I don't get a royalty from that book, so have no dog in the fight! I am interested to hear the several comments on "Where Lions Roar" (which I do get a royalty on, so buy multiple copies!)--that book is 15 years old, and I sure would like to think I write better today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oddly enough, I have tried to buy a couple of your books from Amazon and its sellers, specifically, Safari Rifles II and American Hunting Rifles, but they will not deliver to me in Japan for some reason.

I probably have read most of the old books, such as Selous, Stanley, Park, Roosevelt, Stigand, Bell, Carl Akeley, Roy Chapman Andrews, Siemel, et al., since I had access as a boy in the early 1950s to a little local school library in Ottawa Hills, next to my home town of Toledo, Ohio that had them all. Evidently some prosperous local citizen with similar tastes had donated them -- to my great personal benefit. I reread all of them several times.

I agree with the thought that there is no single perfect safari book. Some of you may not be familiar with the works of Frank "Bring Em Back Alive" Buck or Clyde Beatty. Though not exactly safari books, they cover much similar subjects.

Personally, I found Capstick's "Safari" to be very useful in deciding what to take to Africa. In particular, I remember his idea to include two wire mesh fly swatters, the very sturdy kind. Mulobesi in the dry season had plenty of tsetse.

I was amused, I guess, that immediately on arrival the PH wives "appropriated" both my fly swatters and put them to use. Those durable swatters were history in a day and a half.

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Originally posted by boarkiller:
Corbett leaves everyone in dust

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And with no bravado, "just the facts, ma'am"

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Originally posted by shootaway:
I remember reading a buff hunting article by Craig Boddington way back in the early eighties I guess.I still remember how well the follow up was described.I was wondering which is the best Boddington book of all time?

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Ian was a product of English private schools, and his language was near-perfect. I've edited other Rhodesians, and it didn't really matter if they attended university or not; the writing was sound. But in Ian's case, well, every other page or so there was something that required a difficult decision as to whether it should appear in print or not. Ian Nyschens was the real deal and a hard man, so these decisions ran the gamut from allowing minor poaching to, perhaps, murder. I actually edited that book in my spare time during a summer exercise in Korea. Great book, amazing character...but really a tough editing job. WOW! I know, unfortunately, that Ian was not happy with some of the stuff that was omitted or "watered down," but I am very proud of the book that resulted...and in these times, nobody needs to know about some of the stuff that was left out...

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Tsavo man eaters was the only book I read twice.

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Originally posted by Woodhits:

Not sure about "best", but "Shots at Big Game" is one that I find myself loaning out to new hunters- it's the best I've seen when it comes to practical explanations of field shooting.

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I'm sure I'm being a bit cliche, but I love nearly every one of Capstick's books I can get my hands on. 'Death in the Long Grass' has to be my favorite of his. I'm sure a bunch of his stories are a bit exaggerated, but he definitely knew how to bring in the reader in every one of his pieces!

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Originally posted by craig boddington:
Craig,

You mentioned in one of your books that you occasionally edited some of Elmer Keith's stuff, and that was rough .... would this be more or less rough?

I quite liked a lot of Elmer's stuff, you just had to pretend you were listening to him talk and it'd sort of get to you - the repetitions and so on.

Well, more difficult in a different sort of way. Elmer's work was more a matter of translating into the Queen's English--grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. Ian was a product of English private schools, and his language was near-perfect. I've edited other Rhodesians, and it didn't really matter if they attended university or not; the writing was sound. But in Ian's case, well, every other page or so there was something that required a difficult decision as to whether it should appear in print or not. Ian Nyschens was the real deal and a hard man, so these decisions ran the gamut from allowing minor poaching to, perhaps, murder. I actually edited that book in my spare time during a summer exercise in Korea. Great book, amazing character...but really a tough editing job. WOW! I know, unfortunately, that Ian was not happy with some of the stuff that was omitted or "watered down," but I am very proud of the book that resulted...and in these times, nobody needs to know about some of the stuff that was left out...

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Originally posted by Anjin:

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Originally posted by Woodhits:

Not sure about "best", but "Shots at Big Game" is one that I find myself loaning out to new hunters- it's the best I've seen when it comes to practical explanations of field shooting.

Some may be amused to know that when I moved to Japan 20 years ago, the only "safari" books I brought along were a couple of Jim Corbett's books and early editions of Patterson's Man-Eaters of Tsavo and In the Grip of the Nyika. (I had bought those at the old H&H shop in London.) Sadly, though I wrapped them carefully, the very dry hard covers of the latter two were quite shattered when they got here.

Many of you know that the Tsavo lion skins reside in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where I have seen them many times. The mounts are old fashioned, but very intimidating. Patterson sold them to Marshall Field after giving a lecture there. Before "The Lion and the Darkenss" was released, I urged the museum to highlight the connection with its exhibit and I am pleased to say they did.

Curiously, while Amazon won't ship some of Craig's books to Japan, I did get "Shots At Big Game" about a week ago and I am reading it now.

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Originally posted by ~Arctic~:
Although Ian Nyschens' Moths of the Sun is great, I think his Footsteps of an Ivory Hunter was better, ....possibly since I understand it didn't really get edited. ........one book I won't forget!

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Originally posted by Bren7X64:
For old Africa hands - John Osborne's books. Can't remember the names offhand, but "A Guiding Son" seems to ring a bell. He was a ranger at Gonarhezou before Ron Thompson - no love lost there.

Fairly light reading .....

Reading between the lines, I suspect a "difficult" person, but liked the stories.