Travels in the White Man's Grave Book

As the son of a woodcutter from the Isle of Mull, Donald Macintosh grew up amid wild and sparsely inhabited areas. This was to stand him in good stead for his working life, most of which was spent amid the thick tropical forests of Liberia, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon and Cameroon. His experiences in these wild and remote lands, at a time when gorillas, leopards and elephants were still commonplace, form the core of this elegant and evocative memoir, which was deservedly short-listed for the 1999 Thomas Cook Award. Like Gerald Durrell, Macintosh is an erudite guide to the flora and fauna of the now vanished rain-forest. But he surpasses Durrell in his ability to evoke the magical atmosphere of the forest. There is something almost sensual about his description of the towering trees and the brilliance of the forest canopy, and Macintosh writes with equal empathy about the lives of the forest peoples, who were his friends and companions throughout his working life. The rare insight which he gained into their lives forms the backdrop to his stories of the forest and of strange characters such as "Magic Sperm", "Pisspot" and "Old Man Africa". Although Macintosh's African life was full of adventures and dangers, he never exaggerates them, and writes with a fluidity and understated grace which makes his book a pleasure to read. By turns beautiful, poignant and very funny, Macintosh rarely misses the mark, and this memoir should become a classic of the genre. --Toby GreenRead More