I bought the 1935 edition of this book as an accessory, really, to a room I had decorated in African jungle motif, one of about a half dozen similar old books to add the finishing decorative touches.

I recently read this book on a whim, and I was shocked at what a truly excellent read it was: Chock full of action, psychological drama, authentic detail, and adventure that really kept me on the edge of my seat. The narrator is a young man who survived to tell the harrowing tale set against the backdrop of his own coming of age. I looked forward to reading the book at the end of the day, and finished it here at the beach.

It's a great book. One of those rare treasures that no one seems to know about - I just can't rave enough about this book. There is an authentic historical component as well, for the climate in Africa at the time was a tense political game of power and territory control between the French, English and Germans, and this is directly crucial to the story. One of the main characters is an eerie foreshadowing of the Nazi generation to come.

Read it. Sails along like a novel, intriguing in it's plot, accurate in historical details, and at times, a bit of a nail-biter.

Happy reading!