African Silences [B2001]

1992 PB in excellent condition. African Silences is a powerful and sobering account of the cataclysmic depredation of the African landscape and its wildlife. In this critically acclaimed work Peter Matthiessen explores new terrain on a continent he has written about in two previous books, A Tree Where Man Was Born -- nominated for the National Book Award -- and Sand Rivers. Through his eyes we see elephants, white rhinos, gorillas, and other endangered creatures of the wild. We share the drama of the journeys themselves, including a hazardous crossing of the continent in a light plane. And along the way, we learn of the human lives oppressed by bankrupt political regimes and economies, and threatened by the slow ecological catastrophe to which they have only begun to awaken.

From Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "An amazing book. I had not read any Matthiessen since Snow Leopard, so when I found this discounted at the book store, I pounced on it. It is a must read for those of us who dream of Africa."; "Though not exactly depressing, African Silences is a clear warning of what was happening in Africa then, and is continuing to happen now. Wildlife was being devastated not only by poaching (especially for gorilla hands, elephant tusks and rhino horns) and by habitat destruction (both by "civilized" pursuits and by the slash-and-burn agriculture long practiced by some Bantu groups), but also by the indifference of corrupt (and often tyrannical) governments. Well, some things never change, do they... in Africa, or anywhere else..."; "Forth Matthiessen book I have read now and I found it to be one of the better ones. This is one of those instances when brevity had its merits. This was succinct and kept at a good pace, yet still packing entertainment and excitement. While most of it was purely travel narrative of what happened, how and when, there were also good sections on the unique and interesting ecology of the African rain forest and its inhabitants, the star of which was the forest elephant - the subject of the majority of this book."; "Part travel journal, part natural history, this is what I expected from the Matthiessen."