Any new one's out there? Now that Boddington is winding down and Peter Flack has announced he is doing his final (I've reserved a copy) are there any good new books on African hunting?

I imagine its pretty difficult to write a "new" hunting book that isnt very similar to all the other hunting books out there . I have a reasonable African Hunting library and , amongst the modern books , there really is a sameness about them all.

The pics are nice , but , at the end of the day , theres only so many ways you can hunt something and then tell the tale.

I still buy and read those books but they dont have the character of many of the older ones

That's true. It's hard to beat Karamojo Safari + a lot of the older ones. I haven't seen any new ones lately + Boddington never really did it for me, but that's just me.

I think the lack of good new Africana books is in part due to the fact hunters began to seek a trophy - to check a box - versus go on adventure or do something new. There is ALWAYS room for another good adventure book, but, since a hunter filling a slot is largely fungible with any other hunter filling a slot - their stories sound more alike than different. Might sound overly harsh, but I think it's true: "I went there, saw the animal, shot it, the trackers were amazing" is an awfully poor storyline.

Not that I don’t agree that some of the newer books can be a little dry compared to the old ones but hunters now just can’t wander the vast distances for months on end that the old timers did. Plus game was far more abundant and likely less wary of people shooting at them with rifles. I also think the written word was far more important in those pre video and internet times.

One modern book I recently bought is Kevin Robertson’s “It Shouldn’t Happen”. Lots of humorous story’s about hunting, in particular the chapter on what happened when he acquired his first large bore rifle as a new PH. Not many can boast they burned up a good part of their farm with a .505 Gibbs.

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:
Not that I don’t agree that some of the newer books can be a little dry compared to the old ones but hunters now just can’t wander the vast distances for months on end that the old timers did. Plus game was far more abundant and likely less wary of people shooting at them with rifles. I also think the written word was far more important in those pre video and internet times.

One modern book I recently bought is Kevin Robertson’s “It Shouldn’t Happen”. Lots of humorous story’s about hunting, in particular the chapter on what happened when he acquired his first large bore rifle as a new PH. Not many can boast they burned up a good part of their farm with a .505 Gibbs.

Yup. And that is largely the point - that it takes quite an experience to fill a book. Harry Selby’s article from many years ago explains it well, it’s less pointed than many of the emails we shared - he was quite critical of the check-box hunter : https://sportsafield.com/2016/...-the-african-safari/

And you are correct as well regarding writing.

Good article by Harry Selby. Definitely a big difference between safaris of the past + those more current. I'm reminded of a comment a friend made years ago when looking at that classic photo of FC Selous sitting in camp, + he said, "You know, somebody had to carry that chair for hundreds of miles."

One of the biggest issue I see is that a lot of todays “writers” have a poor command of the language and in addition poor story tellers.

Editorial skills are similarly lacking.

A lot of that could be said of Elmer Keith too, but he was a great storyteller.

I need books for my next trip in August. Was looking for something new, but with no ideas, I'm thinking about a couple of Charles Miller books: Battle for the Bundu and Lunatic Express.

Or maybe Corbett's books, not exactly Africa. But I am hunting cats.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
I need books for my next trip in August. Was looking for something new, but with no ideas, I'm thinking about a couple of Charles Miller books: Battle for the Bundu and Lunatic Express.

Or maybe Corbett's books, not exactly Africa. But I am hunting cats.

If you are taking a Kindle or iPad you could have a look at some of the ebooks I've put out in the recent past: https://www.whistlingthornpress.com/books

I have put five of Corbett's books into two volumes. I think the Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag is my favorite of his.

There’s that Marc Pechanart(?) book listed below. Pricey but…

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
I need books for my next trip in August. Was looking for something new, but with no ideas, I'm thinking about a couple of Charles Miller books: Battle for the Bundu and Lunatic Express.

Have you read the Wayne Grant books? I enjoyed both of them. Into the Thorns is a mix of leopard hunting and memoir; Drums of the Morning - lion hunting and memoir.

I've read Into the Thorns but not the other one. I'll look into it.

I got my copies of both Wayne Grant books from "Good Books in the Woods" in Spring, TX. I understand it is a brick-and-mortar store, but I ordered mine online.

To try and answer the original question...Regarding newer books on African hunting, here's what I have that's been published more recently, starting in 2016, skipping over Peter Flack, Craig Boddington, and Wayne Grant books (books without comments, I haven't read yet):
2023 A Dangerous Game - A Classic Collection of African Safari, Hunting and Conservation Ed. bin Hurt; large format
2023 Thunder without Rain, Thomas McIntyre
2022 Lords of the Veldt and Vlei - Jim Casada
2022 Facing Down Fear - John Sharp- Excellent memoir that was more introspective than what I was expecting - perhaps a book not to be judged by its cover!
2021 Cries of the Savanna - Sue Tidwell -Partly an account of an indifferent observer that travels to Africa with her husband on safari and came to understand and appreciate African hunting. Aimed mainly (I think) at non-hunters. Still, I enjoyed the account.
2015-2021 - Ron Thomsons memoirs - 6 volumes; likely only available as Kindle books, since the warehouse was flooded. I bought volumes 3-6 in Cape Town, and the first two as Kindle books. I enjoyed them all.
2020 There's Something about Buffalo - Kevin Thomas - The first 7 chapters are about buffalo and buffalo hunting; the next 10 chapters are mostly buffalo hunting stories.
2020 - View from a Tall Hill: Robert Ruark in Africa by Terry Wieland (I think the 2020 edition is a reprint, but otherwise a good account of Ruark in Africa)
2019 - A Hunter's Hunter - A Lifetime of African Safari- Robin Hurt
2018- Tall Tales - Buzz Charlton - Entertaining read.
2016 Great African Trophies - Diana Rupp
2016 - Augusts in Africa: Safaris into the Twilight: Forty Years of Essays and Stories - Thomas McIntyre - When I met the author in 2017, we discussed the fact that he had never hunted Namibia or South Africa, so it covers more off-the-beaten path hunts. Excellent.
2015: Africa in my Heart: a Hunter's Diary - Julius Simko - photo rich account of several safaris by a Hungarian hunter. Not so serious, but entertaining.