Bookshelf Latest Additions

The books listed here are the latest additions to the Shakari Connection Bookshelf. In no particular order, there are books on African hunting, African exploration, hunting firearms and more. All the books newly added to the website will be listed on this page before going into their various categories and into the author index.

James Platt

The Great Tanganyika Diamond Hunt by James Platt (2007) is the account of a huge campaign to discover deposits of diamonds in Tanganyika in the 1960s. The author was a British mining geologist who was appointed as the campaign field geologist under the auspices of Williamson Diamonds Ltd. He went on to work in diamond exploration in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana, Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia and Nyasaland, now Malawi, for four years, learning much about African peoples, wildlife and natural history.

Cherry Kearton

Adventures With Animals And Men by Cherry Kearton (1935) are more tales of rather hair-raising encounters with African animals while trying to photograph them. The author puts his survival down to his strength as a swimmer, his speed as a runner, his agility in climbing trees, his alertness in remembering the most trusted method of escape for a particular animal and a great element of good fortune. Free eBook
More books by Cherry Kearton

Ferdinand Werne

Ferdinand Werne (1822 - 1874) was a German lawyer who initially worked as a diplomat in Istanbul and Alexandria before becoming an African explorer. In 1841, he joined an expedition organised by Muhammed Ali Pascha, Viceroy of Eygpt, to discover the source of the White Nile. Under the leadership of the Turkish officer, Selim Qaduban, they penetrated as far as Gondokoro. Werne kept a diary of valuable scientific observations and produced the first European map of the river between Khartoum and Gondokoro, which was reputed to have been used by Burton, Speke, and Baker. He returned to Berlin in 1844 having brought back a mass of material from the White Nile region for the Botanical Garden in Berlin and the Berlin Museums. He wrote an account of the journey that was published in German in 1848 and in English, translated by Charles William O'Reilly, in 1849.

Expedition To Discover The Sources Of The White Nile, In The Years 1840, 1841 by Ferdinand Werne (1849). 2 Volumes. This is an account which was published nine years before Speke discovered Victoria Nyanza as the head of the White Nile. Under the command of the Turkish officer, Selim Bimbashi, the European expedition members included Georges Thibaut, French consul in Khartoum, as expedition collector, Théodore Louis Joseph-Pons d'Arnaud known as Arnaud-Bey, a French geographer, explorer and naturalist, and Raymond Sabatier were the expedition engineers. The German author of this book, Ferdinand Werne, writes that he was an "independent passenger at my own expense". Free eBook Vol I Free eBook Vol II

Norman Robert Bennett

Mirambo Of Tanzania: ca.1840-1884 by Norman Robert Bennett (1975) looks at the life of Chief Mirambo who was the leader of the Nyamwezi peoples of east Africa in the mid 19th century. His rule extended from the Northwest Buganda border to Lake Tanganyika and covered the area south of Tabora down to Uvinza. To consolidate his power he made an alliance with the sultan of Zanzibar but constant incidents led to the Sultan withdrawing his support, and Mirambo's kingdom disintegrated after his death in 1884. Stanley called him the 'Napoleon of Central Africa'.

Otto Martens & Dr O Karstedt

The African Handbook And Traveller's Guide by Otto Martens & Dr O Karstedt (1932) is an incredibly detailed travel guide to nearly the whole continent of Africa - except the north, Mediterranean coast and hinterland. The authors included a huge amount of concise information - topography, climate, history, economics, administration, hunting, flora, fauna with fold-out maps and statistical data - anything that any traveller to Africa may need to know. It was produced for the German African Shipping Lines.

A later edition was published in 1938 The African Handbook: A Guide To West, South And East Africa

Hugh Walker

Kenya's Northern Frontier And Far Beyond: Memoirs Of A District Officer by Hugh Walker (2021) contains tales of life as a Colonial District Officer in Kenya’s wild northern frontier land in the 1950s and in Aden. The author began his African adventures in the army, with the Somaliland Scouts, where he learned to speak and write fluent Somali. After training by the Colonial Service he was sent to Kenya where he recalls how he adopted a lion cub, pursued Mau Mau rebels, and had to literally read the Riot Act to unruly crowds from the safety of a Landrover.

Mick Bond

From Northern Rhodesia To Zambia: Recollections Of A DO/DC 1962-73 Mick Bond (2014) is a detailed account of the author's life and work as a District Officer and later, a District Commissioner. It includes the daily routine of a colonial officer, his personal experiences of the 1964 Lumpa conflict and his involvement in the elections of 1962, 1964, and 1968.

It is always interesting to know which books you are buying. Let's take a look at some of the books bought recently from the Bookshelf ...

Dennis Holman

Inside Safari Hunting With Eric Rundgren by Dennis Holman (1969) is the biography of Eric Rundgren (1918 - 1992), a booming, boisterous, quick-tempered second-generation white hunter of Swedish extraction who reached the height of his volcanic career in 1958. A man of undisputed hunting prowess, he first worked for the Kenya Game Department, for whom he shot buffalo, elephant and lion, and later for Ker & Downey Safaris, eventually relocating his operations to Botswana.

Stanley E Brock

Hunting In The Wilderness by Stanley E Brock (1963) includes much on hunting of the major game animals found in northern South America, as well as with a number of the lesser mammals.

Kevin Robertson

The Perfect Shot: Shot Placement For African Big Game by Kevin Robertson (1999) is the original 'Perfect Shot' book. Africa has more varieties of big game than any other continent and almost all these animals have very different 'kill zones'. Each animal is shown in a colour field picture as well as a colour 'ghost view' that illustrates the shoulder bones, heart, lungs and brain so you will know precisely where to place your shot.

C S Landis

Twenty-Two Calibre Varmint Rifles by C S Landis (1947) covers a wide variety of the 22 caliber varmint cartridges available, it gives detailed dimensions of the cartridge in tables at the rear of the book. Landis goes into detail about barrels and barrel steel as available in the early post WWII period. He also details the problems faced with inferior steel and discusses tight and loose spots in barrels.

Lou Hallamore

In The Salt by Lou Hallamore (1999) include 26 colour illustrations of shooting 'pay lines' (shot placements) and stalking recommendations. In addition to big game hunting stories, the author recounts his real life war stories during the long bush war that raged in Rhodesia. Each chapter contains sections on: choice of weapons, methods of location, tracking, trophy judgement, the approach, etc. A must for anyone planning to hunt Africa for the first time or for the returning hunter. A book hunters will read and reread.

Ian Meredith Hughes

Ian Meredith Hughes (b.1940) was originally from Britain and moved to Uganda as a tsetse officer. Later he moved to the Kenya Game Department and in 1973 he volunteered to head a specialised anti-poaching unit to Northern Frontier District of Kenya.

Black Moon, Jade Sea by Ian Meredith Hughes (1988). During the 1970's in Kenya, the poaching of game particularly the elephant and rhino, reached unprecedented levels. The author headed the anti-poaching unit created to stop the slaughter and in this remarkable book he tells his story. A graphic portrayal of one of the major ecological disasters. The 'black moon' in the title refers to the moon during an eclipse of the sun and Lake Turkana is also known as the 'Jade Sea'.

C S Nicolls

Red Strangers: The White Tribe Of Kenya by C S Nicolls (2005) is a history of the life and work of the British government, settler farmers, adventurers, etc in Kenya from 1890 to 1963. The title is borrowed from Elspeth Huxley's book 'Red Strangers' who also wrote about the the British settlers from the Kikuyu point of view. This book describes the hazards, disappointments and tedium for pioneers and adminstrators who often found themselves in remote, malaria infested zones where many lost their lives.

John Gordon Davis

Taller Than Trees by John Gordon Davis (1975) is a novel about the epic struggle to the death between the elephant Dhlulamiti and the hunter Jumbo McGuire.

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