African Silences

Stated First Edition-first printing- Brodart jacket-" African Silences is a powerful and sobering account of the cataclysmic depredation of the African landscape and its wildlife. In this critically acclaimed work, Peter Matthiessen explores new terrain on a continent he has written about in two previous books, A Tree Where Man Was Born -- nominated for the National Book Award -- and Sand Rivers. Through his eyes, we see elephants, white rhinos, gorillas, and other endangered creatures of the wild. We share the drama of the journeys themselves, including a hazardous crossing of the continent in a light plane. And along the way, we learn of the human lives oppressed by bankrupt political regimes and economies and threatened by the slow ecological catastrophe to which they have only begun to awaken. From the Trade Paperback edition. From the Back Cover: "Deeply gripping. with prose of characteristic grace and perfectly distilled passion." -- Washington Post Book World "Matthiessen is a great travel companion. His knowledge of plants and, animals and people is breathtaking." -- Boston Globe"