Reading list advice

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Charles de Ribeau

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I know this post will probably get moved somewhere else on the site, but I'm starting here because this is where I visit most.

A month ago, I got a preliminary diagnosis of multiple myeloma (which is a cancer of the white blood cells). After being bled white for lab work and having had enough scans that I glow in the dark, on Tuesday, I go for my first round of chemotherapy. There will be several months of treatment, and a month or so of complete isolation (since my immune system won't be functioning).

I know that I could watch videos on my iPad, but I prefer to read and given a choice, I prefer paper over electronic. History (including historical fiction) and hunting are my favorite topics. I am currently reading "Tall Tales" by Buzz Charlton, which a collection of stories about hunting in Africa. I would appreciate any recommendations that you care to offer. Thanks.
 
Dear Charles,
I am sorry to hear this, and sincerely hope you will fully recover.

For reading, i will not reccomend anything from the classics already mentioned on this forum, i will rather offer something fresh.

Terry Wieland, Greatest rifles, Victorian to the present.
I have read it in a breath.

Second one, Gun Digest 2020. Several good articles.

Free Preview is available on amazon to check if they are as per your taste.

Wish you all the best, and soon recovery!
Kindest regards,
Marko
 
Well besides the entire capstick library here are some that I have very much enjoyed.The man eaters of Tsavo,Lt Col J.H.Patterson Hunting the elephant in Africa.Capt.C.H. Stigand,African Hunter Baron Bror von Blixen=Finecke,The book of the lion Sir Alfred E.Pease,Memories of an African Hunter,Dennis D Lyell,African Game Trails,Theodore Roosevelt,Big Game Hunting In Central Africa,William Buckley,Kill or Be Killed,Major W.Robert Foran enjoy your convolesence and good luck
 
Best wishes for your recovery.
I’m a Hemingway fanboy, so I’ll recommend Green Hills of Africa and Under Kilimanjaro, plus the short stories, if you haven’t read those already. Plus his grandson Sean put together a “Hemingway on Hunting” collection of his writings.
I also really like classics like Roosevelt’s African Game Trails and Bell’s Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter.
Finally, I recommend anything by Jack O’Connor. I have The Art of Hunting Big Game and Game in the Desert, but he has lots to choose from.
Good luck! Keep us posted on how you’re doing.
 
Not hunting, but history and historical fiction that I can strongly recommend:

Rick Atkinson's WWII trilogy, http://liberationtrilogy.com/books/

Michael Shaara's Civil War classic, The Killer Angels: https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Angels-Classic-Novel-Trilogy

as well as all the books his son, Jeff, wrote: Gods and Generals, The Last Full Measure and others.

So Far from God by John Eisenhower, a good read on the Mexican-American War.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/45624/so-far-from-god-by-john-s-d-eisenhower/
 

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I second the recommendation of Hemingway's African stories above. I'd also add Isak Dineson's Out of Africa and West with Night by/about Beryl Markham. Heart of the Hunter by Robert Ruark is also a classic tale of his hunts with Harry Selby.
Best wishes for a full recovery.
 
First and most importantly... Hope you get well soon.
Ruark’s Horn of the Hunter. Anything by Capstick is entertaining. As Trail Rated stated: anything by Jack O’Connor, especially The Art of Hunting Big Game in North America (one of my all time favorites). Elmer Keith’s Hell I was There. As 375 Ruger Fan stated: Rick Atkinson’s WWII trilogy with my favorite being An Army at Dawn.
 

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Charles,
I would highly recommend "Beneath the Visiting Moon" by Jim Hooper. This book was recommended to me by one of the former members of Koevoet whom I have been fortunate enough to call a friend. I have gained much from learning about the history of the bush war in southern Africa.
Best wishes for a full recovery.
 
Historical/Africa hunting...”White Hunter”. Excellent 1900s history up to 1970s hunting in Africa. I only have it on CD, but I listened to it several times on my 11 hour drives to and from my visits with my parents before they passed. A 1,000 mile drive each way.

If you would like to listen to it, pm me with an address and I will send it to you. You must promise to pass it on though once you get well and bored with it!;)

Stay strong during this time of testing your strength and resolve!
Best
Phil
 
Any and all of the above recommendations.

On a personal note, I hope sincerely that your treatment and recovery is 100%.

I am rooting for you!

Steve
 
First off, my prayers for you Charles, as well as your family and the doctors and other medical professionals. May you have supernatural, awesome healing.

I have been going through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. If you saw the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, that movie was based on this series. There are 20 books in the series, all set in the Napoleonic Wars. They can be tough to read because there is so much nautical terminology; however, it is fantastic storytelling. I believe most of the events in the book are real, just with O'Brian's characters.

https://smile.amazon.com/Complete-Aubrey-Maturin-Novels-volumes/dp/039306011X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=patrick+o'brian+aubrey+maturin+series&qid=1583981342&sprefix=Patrick+o'Brian&sr=8-3
 

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Petey J said:
First off, my prayers for you Charles, as well as your family and the doctors and other medical professionals. May you have supernatural, awesome healing.

I have been going through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. If you saw the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, that movie was based on this series. There are 20 books in the series, all set in the Napoleonic Wars. They can be tough to read because there is so much nautical terminology; however, it is fantastic storytelling. I believe most of the events in the book are real, just with O'Brian's characters.

https://smile.amazon.com/Complete-Aubrey-Maturin-Novels-volumes/dp/039306011X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=patrick+o'brian+aubrey+maturin+series&qid=1583981342&sprefix=Patrick+o'Brian&sr=8-3
Click to expand...

First, thanks for your prayers. After all, that's the most important thing you can do for me, right?

Oh yes!!! I read all of the books in that series as they were released. I loved them! There is a series set in the Middle Ages by Pliver Potzsch that I reserve for travel (or chemotherapy). The books (The Hangman's Daughter's series) aren't as good as the Patrick O'Brian's series but interesting nonetheless. They are set in the 17th century after the "Wars of Religion" (which had little to do with religion). They provide an interesting look into the lives of the common people.
 
I don’t have any reading recommendations to add to the above, but I wish you a rapid and full recovery, and return to the hunting fields of your choice. Keep us posted!
 
Wish you a quick recovery Charles! Here are a handful of books I have enjoyed:

Civil War History:
Jack Hinson's One Man War by Tom C. McKenney

Africa Hunting:
Hunter by JA Hunter

Historical Fiction:
I enjoy most of Bernard Cornwell books & series - Long series of books so these will keep you occupied!

Historical: (Lewis & Clark)
Undaunted Courage - Stephen Ambrose

Hope something in here strikes your fancy. Good luck and best wishes!
 
I so agree with Petey j about the Aubry/Maturin series. I have read the entire series at least five times. If you want fiction look at the writings of W. E. B. Griffith. The Brotherhood of War series and The Corps series are great.

For non-fiction look at anything Shelby Foote wrote about the Civil Wars. To suggest Horn of the Hunter here seems redicules but it is one hell of a read. Likewise any Capstick.

May God be with you during your coming ordeal. I will be keeping you in prayers. Semper Fi
 
My favorite hunting book Kambaku by Harry Manners he was one of the last Ivory Hunters before the war in Mozambique.
Has history and true life story and hunting in one book.

Kambaku.jpg


After Kambaku read Last Ivory Hunter Wally Johnson by Capstick as they both hunted together for a while and you get the story of Mozambique plus more hunting from both sides.

Wally Johnson.jpg
 
Best wishes (tous mes voeux de bon retablissement) Charles...

Among the classics you do not want to miss:
  • The Horn of the Hunter (Ruark)
  • Green Hills of Africa (Hemingway)
  • Death in Dark Continent / Silent Places / Long Grass (Capstick)
  • Hunter / Hunter's Track (Hunter)
  • Karamojo Safari / The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter / Bell of Africa / Incidents from an Elephant Hunter's Diary (Bell)
  • The Shamba Raiders (Kinloch)
  • Augusts in Africa (McIntyre)
  • The Ivory Trail (Bulpin)
  • Jock of the Bushveld (FitzPatrick)
  • Whatever You Do, Don't Run (Allison)
  • From the Cape to Kasserine / Tracks Across Africa / Where Lions Roar (Boddington)
  • the 14 classic of the Peter Capstick Library
81AcM4UXOlL.jpg


Also, not really about hunting, but fascinating and historical:
  • Lost Trails on the Lowveld / To the Banks of the Zambezi / Natal and the Zulu country / Storm Over the Transvaal / The Great Trek (Bulpin)
  • Something of Value / Uhuru (Ruark)
 

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Charles...........you have drawn some bad cards and will have a tough hand to play in the next 5 years. I hope your battle with Bence-Jones is one that leads to remission. It the mean time, read some books about yesteryear that were written from nightly journal entries, and you will experience what it was like...not what it should have been like or could have been like. May I suggest "The Heart of the Hunter", but the one from Edison Marshall not Raurk's book. "Elephant hunting in East Equatorial Africa" by Neumann, "Give your heart to the hawks" by Blevins, and lastly, the journal found more recently loose packed in a dynamite box and compiled into a novel entitled "Tough Trip Through Paradise" by Garcia. Take your strength from these hearty souls..............and get a speedy remission......................FWB
 
Best of luck with your treatment and recovery. Medicine can do amazing things these days.

Recently, I've discovered a sweet spot in books on african safaris in memories from the 1920s.

Best one so far:
Denatured Africa by Daniel Streeter
- he's got an amazing way with words and self deprecating humor that has had me laughing out loud- unexpected in a book about hunting!

Other interesting books from the 20s:

Chronicles of an African Safari by George Eastman (founder of eastman kodak), written as a series of letters back to a friend in the US.

Chronicles of a Second African Safari, published after Eastman's death, tells the story of his trip up the nile in search of the elephant he didn't get on his first hunt

I recommend Abebooks.com for finding all these rare and interesting titles at great prices. It lists books for sale from thousands of small book shops around the world.
 
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