Between Man and Beast

By Monte Reel,

Book cover of Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer and the African Adventure the Victorian World by Storm

Book description

In 1856, Paul Du Chaillu ventured into the African jungle in search of a mythic beast, the gorilla. After wild encounters with vicious cannibals, deadly snakes, and tribal kings, Du Chaillu emerged with 20 preserved gorilla skins—two of which were stuffed and brought on tour—and walked smack dab into the…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Between Man and Beast as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love nonfiction adventure books that immerse you in the details of an adventure while providing enough background information to understand the historical, cultural, and scientific perspectives of an era. In the mid-19th century, Paul du Chaillu spent years in Western Africa tracking down the njena, the mythical beast. This book makes for interesting reading as the author weaves the true-life adventure story of the discovery of the gorilla with Darwin’s evolutionary debate, and the challenges a Victorian-era scientist faced to prove his credibility. 

This book has been given by me to many of my wildlife loving friends, with a hissing insistence they must read it. It tells the story of how the gorilla entered the western conscience just as evolutionary debate was raging. The characters include many that loom through history, yet the central figure has been banished from it. The why of that is the greatest, most tragic part of this excellent work of narrative non-fiction.

From Peter's list on African wildlife and safaris.

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