The Legendary Man-Eaters of Tsavo: A Historical Tale of Terror and Survival

Amazon Customer: Loves this book. Couldn’t put it down. Great read.

United States on Nov 22, 2023

Andy Gregg: This is a chilling story and a well documented account of life Kenya at that time. The thing that let this version down was the quality of the illustrations. Images exist on the net that are a lot better and clearer than presented here. Other than that, the story is the story.

United Kingdom on Nov 01, 2023

S Chakrabarty: The front used in this book is very very small, reading it is strain to the eyes.

India on Sep 29, 2023

Chris Browning: Great read actually read it twice interesting learning about that little piece of history.

United States on Sep 19, 2023

D. Machado: I wanted to read this as The Ghost and the darkness Is a fave of mine and I wasn't disappointed. It was detailed and gruesome and you really understand how intelligent the lions really were! I didn't care for the other non related stories as I only bought the book for that one particular story, but if you're a fan of the movie I'd recommend this book!

Australia on Jul 19, 2023

Charles van Buren: This is Colonel Patterson's own account of the Tsavo lions and his hunting and killing of the man-eaters. About a third of the book is about these lions. The rest is mostly other African hunting stories with some information about work on the East Africa railroad. It is written in a lively, easy to read style. For me it, was also a quick read.

Those familiar with the movies THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS and BWANA DEVIL will see several passages which directly inspired various scenes in those movies. The rail car scene in BWANA DEVIL was surely inspired by Patterson's account of a terrifying incident concerning a different man-eater a few years latter.

Potential readers should be aware that the book describes events, life and attitudes as the were in the late1800's and early 1900's. Modern political correctness will not be found in these pages.

United States on Dec 20, 2022

Sam Toole: 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...

United States on Dec 27, 2021

Manfred61: Book was ok. Half the book is on the 2 lions, the other half on other adventures he had in Africa.

Canada on Oct 04, 2020

Cliente Amazon: Amazon sempre impeccabile nella spedizione,
le avventure di JH Patterson in Africa.
La prima parte davvero interessante, descrive le peripezie per la costruzione di una ferrovia nella regione Tsavo, dominata da due feroci leoni senza criniera che iniziano a massacrare uomini, cacciandoli senza pietà. Anche se alla fine è sempre l'uomo è il vero mostro, sempre propenso alla distruzione e alla mortificazione della natura come lo dimostra la seconda parte che perde abbastanza di fascino in uno stile pomposo e vittoriano, teso a descrivere caccia e uccisioni di animali esotici.
Ha ispirato il discreto film "Spiriti nelle Tenebre" con Val Kilmer e Michael Douglas.
Ho messo 4 stelle perchè è impensabile che a 100 anni dalla pubblicazione è inedita la versione italiana!

Italy on Jun 22, 2020

Gary Johnson: 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...

United States on Sep 15, 2010