The Man-Eaters of Tsavo

First published in 1907 and considered to be one of the most famous stories of man-eating lions in modern times, “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo” is the first-hand account of Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson’s encounter with several deadly lions during the building of the Uganda railway through British East Africa in 1898. The book takes place in what is present day Kenya during the construction of the controversial Uganda Railway, which extended to Lake Victoria. Patterson was in charge of building a bridge and while the project was underway many of his workers and countless natives were killed by a pair of savage lions. Patterson writes that “between them [the lions] no less than 28 Indian coolies, in addition to scores of unfortunate African natives of whom no official records were kept” were killed. Patterson bravely hunts these lions down and encounters many other exotic and dangerous creatures in his adventures. In addition to the gripping account of the hunt for the man-eaters, Patterson also details other challenges to the bridge project, such as tensions between the workers and a devastating flood. Contained within this edition of this fascinating historical account is Patterson’s original 1907 work with over a hundred photographs and illustrations.