The Man-Eaters of Tsavo

I liked reading about the experiences of a soldier facing his fears & still accomplishing his duty. We have too few real men, strong 💪 men, in the world. Most males are weak, scared, insecure, & refuse to serve in the military. A real man, a man proud of his manhood, understands his nature is to protect & provide for his loved ones. Men & women have separate roles. This book demonstrates how a real man does his duty to protect by facing his doubts & fears. Five stars ✨ is well deserved. Colonel Paterson shared his experiences openly & honestly with humility. I detected no embellishments.

Good book

The Man-Eaters of Tsavo by J. H. Patterson is available in several editions. It's sort of confusing which one to buy. Here are some notes on each edition:The Man-Eaters of Tsavo (Peter Capstick Libary Series).Publisher: St. Martins Press, 1985. 384 pages.When The Man-Eaters of Tsavo was originally published in 1907, it contained a wealth of photos and a map. Photos appeared on every two to three pages. These photos showed many local scenes, as well as the infamous lions. These photos are very valuable for establishing a sense of place that words alone can't do. Beware of inexpensive reprints that omit all the photos and the map. The quality of the photo reproductions is not great in the Capstick Library edition. But these are the best looking photos in any edition currently available. This edition is virtually identical to the original book. The page sequence is the same, with only the addition of some new preface pages. This is the book to buy; however, for some strange reason it's hard to find on Amazon. If you search for "tsavo", you'll find used copies of this book at horribly inflated prices. But this book is still in print. Search for "tsavo capstick" and you'll find it--along with very reasonably priced used copies (under $10).Man Eaters Of Tsavo [Hardcover].Publisher: St. Martins Press, 1985. 384 pages.If you search for "tsavo" on Amazon, this is the hardcover edition of this book that you'll find. You'll likely see no trace of the Capstick edition. Well, it's the same book. Unfortunately, "Man Eaters of Tsavo [Hardcover]" is being sold like it's a collector's item, at inflated prices. Don't fall for this. Get the Capstick Library book listed above.The Man-eaters of Tsavo.Publisher: SMK Books, 2009. 152 pages.If all you want is the text, if you don't care about seeing approximately 100 photographs, if you don't want a map, then this is a reasonably priced alternative. All the text from the original edition is compressed onto 152 pages, in a tiny font. The map and all photos have been removed. You can get a used hardcover copy of the Capstick Library book for only $2 to $3 more than the SMK book, so I would find it hard to justify buying the SMK edition.The Man-Eaters of Tsavo: And Other East African Adventures (Classic Reprint). Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2010. 360 pages.This is a duplicate of the original book. A library copy was pulled and photographed page by page. The reproductions of the photographs from the original book are horribly muddy--and virtually worthless. Strangely, if you search for "tsavo" on Amazon, this book seems to be a reasonably priced alternative. So many people have apparently purchased this edition. Don't be fooled. Look for the Capstick Library book instead, which only costs a few dollars more and has better reproduction of the photos (as well as a few extra pages in the preface).The Lions of Tsavo: Exploring the Legacy of Africa's Notorious Man-Eatersby Bruce D. PattersonThis is a different Patterson entirely. And thus a different book. Bruce Patterson is a scientist who recently studied the lions of Tsavo, while J. H. Patterson is the hunter who shot the infamous Tsavo lions. The scientist's book is good. But you should be aware that this isn't the tale told by the hunter.Ghosts of Tsavo : Stalking the Mystery Lions of East Africaby Philip CaputoThis a contemporary tale of a journalist following in J.H. Patterson's steps and investigating the lions of Tsavo. This is a good book. The first chapter is incredible as he retells the story of the lions that killed a mind-boggling number of railroad workers (possibly over 120 people died). The subsequent chapters are of a more personal nature as Caputo journeys to Africa and looks for the maneless Tsavo lions.I hope this helps!

I first heard of this harrowing true story from one of my favorite history podcasts a while back so I put this book on my reading list. Lt. Col. John H. Patterson of the British Army was commissioned in 1898-99 to go to British East Africa (modern day Kenya, bordering Uganda) to take the lead on construction of a new rail line to link Mombasa on the coast to Nairobi and other parts further inland.In this first-person account, Patterson recounts the terrifying true events surrounding a pair of maneless male lions which, over the course of several months, terrorized the Indian, African and British railway workers and overseers as the pair systematically attacked the various railroad camps along the Tsavo River as they constructed the rail bridge there.The pair of lions managed to escape multiple traps and ambushes set for them, and outsmarted their human prey at every turn. Like lightning, they never seemed to strike the same place twice. I highly recommend this harrowing tale.However, the tale of the man-eaters only takes up the first third of the book. The remainder mostly consists of Patterson’s adventures hunting more lions and other big game, as well as his interactions with native Africans and the Indian railway workers. Though of course he was a man of his time, he seems to have always held the native peoples in high regard, and always seemed to give credit where it was due in his hunting adventures, even at his own expense.Overall, I enjoyed this read, as it was well-written and amply detailed.

Just because you may think you own cats...It's the other way around.

This book is a cracking good read and the author is a credit to the Empire.I hunted this book down due to references to it in the excellent memoirs of Jack Couffer naturalist/filmmaker The Lion and the Giraffe: A Naturalists Life In the Movie Business. (Also a very gratifying read). This book recounts memoirs of Patterson's life as a supervising engineer building a railroad through Africa, the most memorable being the campaign of terror waged by 2 lions who kept eating the help.Being written at the turn of the century by a white colonial this book is not politically correct and the casual racism and depictions of killing animals for sport may be a problem for some. However Patterson is such an engaging character who laughs at himself as much as others that it is easy to become involved in his anecdotes. It is certainly an account of a time and place now long gone and provides many observations on the (then) unspoilt African landscape and its human and animal inhabitants. It is written in a very accessible style that is not typical of accounts written in the Victorian era. It is the original ripping yarn that fired the imaginations of British school boys such as my father. My Dad commented that it was this sort of book that inspired him to emigrate to the colonies (no, he didn't find any man-eating lions in Australia).This kindle edition is excellent with no problems of readability and is a bargain.