David Read Books

David William Lister Read (1922 - 2015) was born in Kenya to British parents and became an author of autobiographical books which reveal a profound knowledge of Maasai history. He was also a farmer, cattle dealer, hunter, aviator, fisherman and boat builder. Read more about David Read's life

Barefoot Over The Serengeti by David Read (1979) covers the author's adventures between the ages of seven and fourteen years in the Serengeti, homeland of the Maasai, whose customs and lifestyle he reports, as seen through the eyes of a child.

Beating About The Bush: Tales From Tanganyika by David Read (2000) is the follow-up book after 'Barefoot Over The Serengeti' and charts the life of David Read from the period of 1936 to 1952 in Tanganyika (modern day Tanzania), as he comes to grips with his first schooling, his move to the Lupa Goldfields and the onset of adult life. During World War II, he marched his regiment of Masai and Samburu warriors from Eritrea to Kenya before leading them via Madagascar to the jungles of India and Burma. After the war he became a veterinary officer and roamed the African bush, gazetting East Africa's game parks and investigating ritual tribal murder.

Another Load Of Bull by David Read (2000) continues his story after working for the Veterinary Department. The Read family settled as wheat farmers on the western slopes of Kilimanjaro. With no formal farm training, Read survived largely on his local knowledge and language skills, supplemented by buying cattle.

Waters Of The Sanjan: A Tale Of Hardship, Heroism And Passion Under The Shadow Of Mount Kilimanjaro by David Read (2011) is fiction based on fact, woven around the life of a known Masai warrior who lived at the turn of the century. It is an historical novel and the events portrayed were not unusual in the life of a warrior of those times. The customs and traditions are accurate, the places where events took place are real places and to date still go by the same name.