A Most Surprising Man The Life of Victor Marra Newland

Mile End, SA: Wakefield Press. 2020. Large octavo size [16x24cm approx]. Near Fine copy in Very Good dustjacket. Dustjacket is now protected in our purpose-made plastic sleeve. A nice copy. Illustrated with Black and White Photographs. Robust, professional packaging and tracking provided for all parcels. 288 pages. Victor Marra Newland OBE MC DCM - hunter, soldier and entrepreneur - was descended from Australian pioneers. In 1904 he started British East Africa's first safari company. Along the way he fought in the Boer War and later in the East Africa campaign in World War One. Marra settled in Nairobi when it was a railway staging post. There were no rules, no safety nets and tantalising possibilities. Newland, Tarlton and Co. acted as land, stock and auctioneering agents as well as outfitting and guiding visiting sportsmen. British aristocrats, European royalty and American moguls set out on foot and horseback into the wilds in pursuit of big game trophies. Marra's tales of shipwrecks, charging rhino, hunting elephant for their ivory and the settlers' increasingly frustrated attempts to stake land claims make for fascinating and well-paced tales. This book vividly sketches a portrait of a country in the making and the man who embraced and was transformed by his adopted land. . 1st Edition. Hardback.