Description

"He led a singularly adventurous and fascinating life, with just the right alternations between the wilderness and civilization." --Teddy Roosevelt, 1917

The life of Frederick Courteney Selous was filled with extraordinary adventures, from elephant-hunting and diamond-prospecting, to an early expedition to found Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the European scramble for Africa. This biography examines Selous' relationships with other influential people of the time, including Robert Baden-Powell, Frederick Russell Burnham, Cecil Rhodes, King Lobengula of the Ndebele, and President Teddy Roosevelt. Big Game Hunter paints a skillful portrait of a complex man who started as an elephant hunter but who eventually founded some of the first game reserves in Africa and was acclaimed by both the National History Museum and the Royal Geographical Society for his collections and discoveries.